Chapter Summaries

Qin Yanyun and Qin Yu mourned Qin Wuyaya and debated whether the Barbarians should retaliate for Netherworld Valley. At the valley, Wang Xian finished securing the settlement, learned of his senior sister’s feelings for Bai Yijun, and decided to keep the Desolate Heaven Sword as he prepared to name the place Meihua Valley.

• Qin Yu urged Qin Yanyun to seek revenge for Qin Wuyaya and reclaim Netherworld Valley, but she told him to leave the decision to the Grand Marshal and focus on bringing their relatives home.
• Qin Yu revealed Qin Wuyaya’s final instruction that Qin Yu and Sima Jue must not avenge him, and Qin Yanyun asked him to summon Qin Yu home.
• Wang Xian completed the Black Tower’s killing formations while Xiaobai, Li Mengbai, and the others repaired homes and settled into the valley.
• Donghuang Mingyuan told Wang Xian that his sister had fallen for Bai Yijun after he saved her on the Heavenly Road, and Wang Xian decided not to give his senior sister the Desolate Heaven Sword.
• Wang Xian learned Bai Yijun had already left, declared he would make the valley a settlement called Meihua Valley, and Donghuang Shuyu invited him to dig for crystals the next day.

Wang Xian tested the dangerous crystals, turned them into powerful explosives, and organized defenses around Netherworld Valley. When the Black Tower’s formation activated and an enemy attacked, Xiaobai rushed toward the tower while Wang Xian watched to see whether their defenses would hold.

• Wang Xian found that he could cultivate with the crystals, then carved a sigil into one and detonated it as a firework to demonstrate its power.
• Wang Xian ordered the crystals mined and the mine sealed, while he and Xiaobai spent three days building a defensive formation at the foot of Netherworld Valley.
• Wang Xian planned to make identity tokens and establish sentries along the mountain path to keep the cultivators alert and protect the settlement.
• Dantai Xiaoxue sounded the alarm when the Black Tower’s formation activated, and Li Mengbai and the others rushed to the lake with bows trained on its exit.
• The Black Tower roared beneath a beam of light as golden energy surged from it, and Xiaobai flew toward the tower while Wang Xian watched.

Wang Xian stopped the creatures inside the Black Tower from escaping, then destroyed the tower and cut off the barbarians’ route. He left the burning ruins for Donghuang Shuyu and the others to search after the flames died down.

• Xiaobai attacked the black mist pouring from the Black Tower, was blasted into the lake, and called for help.
• Donghuang Shuyu and the cultivators fired talisman arrows at the creatures, but the arrows were repelled.
• Wang Xian used his bamboo sword to split the black mist and wound the demon trying to escape.
• Wang Xian cut apart the Sword Qi aimed at him, then sent threads of Sword Qi into the Black Tower and severed its pillar of light.
• The Black Tower cracked and collapsed, silencing the creatures inside.
• Wang Xian told Donghuang Shuyu to have the others search the ruins once the flames died down.

Wang Xian destroyed the Black Tower, then revealed that his traps had devastated the barbarian imperial palace and provoked a renewed attack on Netherworld Valley. He planned to ambush the coming army in a canyon, while Donghuang Shuyu prepared to undergo tribulation.

• Wang Xian’s chaos-infused iron needles brought down the Black Tower after a sword from within threatened the people at Netherworld Valley.
• Wang Xian told Long Xiangyu to take a group down the mountain for winter supplies and told Donghuang Shuyu she could attempt tribulation after they left.
• Five hundred chests of crystal stones delivered by Qin Youhuo exploded in the barbarian palace, killing and wounding many and reducing much of the palace to ruins.
• Qin Youhuo survived the blast and learned from Qin Yu that Qin Wuy a had died in Netherworld Valley, while the Great Marshal prepared an attack on the valley.
• Wang Xian told the group that the explosions were his trap and proposed digging a huge pit in a canyon about a hundred li away to ambush the barbarian army.

Wang Xian established Plum Blossom Valley and helped Donghuang Shuyu, Dongfang Xiaoxue, and others survive their tribulations, while Qin Wentian and Qin Jun planned how to respond to the conspiracy surrounding Netherworld Valley. As Long Qingmei set out to reach Wang Xian, he revealed to Donghuang Shuyu and Donghuang Mingyuan that his actions on the Heavenly Road had made him a target, leaving his senior sister heartbroken.

• Wang Xian and Little White built a grand array while Donghuang Shuyu and others moved stones from the Black Tower to create a checkpoint, and Wang Xian renamed Netherworld Valley Plum Blossom Valley.
• Donghuang Shuyu, Dongfang Xiaoxue, and the other cultivators weathered tribulation lightning, completing breakthroughs they had long awaited.
• Qin Wentian read Wang Xian's letter about collusion with the barbarians, then told Qin Jun to go to Netherworld Valley quietly and watch for trouble inside Tiger Gate Pass.
• Long Qingmei visited Master Mingguang for advice about repairing her relationship with Wang Xian, then decided to go to Netherworld Valley herself.
• Wang Xian offered Donghuang Shuyu and Donghuang Mingyuan the chance to comprehend the Longevity Scripture, then revealed he had been to the Heavenly Road and had killed people who might come after him.
• Wang Xian urged Donghuang Shuyu and Donghuang Mingyuan to keep their distance once matters in Plum Blossom Valley were settled, and Donghuang Shuyu wept as she held the jade.

After learning of Qin Wuyue’s death and the losses at Netherworld Valley, Sima Jue was ordered to stay in the imperial capital while Wang Xian prepared an ambush for the barbarian army at Ghosts' Bane Canyon. Wang Xian and his companions completed their first killing formation and shared a Double Ninth Festival meal, with the coming battle still ahead.

• Qin Yu told Sima Jue and Qin Yanyun that Qin Wuyue had forbidden them to seek revenge, and revealed that the Grand Marshal’s experts had also failed to return from Netherworld Valley.
• Qin Yanyun forbade Sima Jue from leaving the imperial capital for ten years, while Sima Jue wondered whether he should ask Qin Yu about pursuing revenge once he woke.
• Wang Xian brought Little White and more than twenty cultivators to Ghosts' Bane Canyon and chose the dangerous passage as a site to ambush the barbarian army.
• Wang Xian directed the cultivators to conceal spirit stones and build killing formations, including a distant alarm formation to warn them of an approaching enemy.
• After three days of work, Wang Xian and Little White finished the first great formation, then camped nearby and shared spirit wine and medicinal soup with the cultivators for the Double Ninth Festival.

Wang Xian warned Xiaobai to stay out of his troubles and waited as cultivators began breaking through, while Donghuang Shuyu’s group worried about their future and their absent junior brother. Five days after the Double Ninth Festival, Qin Jun arrived from Tiger Gate Pass with orders to discuss with Wang Xian, who was away preparing to confront the barbarians at Ghosts' Bane.

• Wang Xian told Xiaobai to hide their connection from others, avoid getting involved in his affairs, and wait until they could ask Ao Qianyu for help with his tribulation.
• Cultivators who had shared the Spirit Wine and meat soup began breaking through, and Donghuang Shuyu’s group discussed their vulnerability and the need to become stronger after surviving the Heavenly Road.
• Five days after the Double Ninth Festival, Ziyu returned with Qin Jun, who explained that he had come on orders from the general of Tiger Gate Pass and needed to speak with Wang Xian.
• Qin Jun learned that Wang Xian had gone to Ghosts' Bane to prepare for a battle with the barbarians, and Donghuang Shuyu estimated he would return within seven days.

Wang Xian ventured into the miasma-filled land beyond Ghosts' Bane and unknowingly absorbed its power, unleashing spiritual rain that strengthened cultivators and formations across the region. After setting up a warning formation, he encountered a mysterious old man who approached from the land of death.

• Wang Xian left Xiaobai and the others to set up the final Soul-Shaking Formation, then rode beyond Ghosts' Bane to explore the land of death.
• Wang Xian discovered that the Heavenwrought Sword drew in the miasma, and he spent the night beneath a miasma-shrouded wall.
• The Chaotic Qi in Wang Xian's Divine Sea devoured the miasma and transformed it into spiritual rain, which spread across Ghosts' Bane and Meihua Valley.
• Xiaobai, Donghuang Mingyuan, Ziyu, Long Xiangyu, Qin Jun, and other cultivators gained strength or broke through, while the formations and plants across Meihua Valley were strengthened.
• An old man deep in the land of death noticed the lotus-shaped celestial phenomenon, while Wang Xian woke unaware of what he had caused.
• Wang Xian set up a small warning formation on the road to Ghosts' Bane, then saw a dark-faced old man in black appear, leading a horse.

Wang Xian encountered Dongfang Qiming in the wasteland and exchanged attacks with the Kunlun Sword Sect traitor. He lured Dongfang Qiming toward the first killing formation of Ghosts' Bane as he hurried to return to Little White.

• Dongfang Qiming confronted Wang Xian and declared that he wanted him dead, while Wang Xian recognized him as the man who had nearly killed Li Dalu.
• Wang Xian and Dongfang Qiming drew their swords and fought, but Dongfang Qiming dodged Wang Xian's lightning-fast strike.
• Wang Xian offered to let Dongfang Qiming leave, then retreated to avoid the old man's sudden frigid sword attack.
• Dongfang Qiming formed a deadly vortex of frigid energy and miasma and pursued Wang Xian as he fled toward Ghosts' Bane.
• Wang Xian retreated into Ghosts' Bane's first killing formation, leading Dongfang Qiming after him.

Wang Xian stopped fleeing through Ghosts' Bane, used the formation to withstand the old man's attacks, and awakened the Azure Edge Sword's extraordinary power. After a fierce sword clash left both fighters wounded, the old man demanded Wang Xian's life as well as his sword.

• The old man pursued Wang Xian through Ghosts' Bane and wounded him with hidden Sword Qi, but Wang Xian stopped at a cliff and raised a golden bell with the formation's protection.
• The old man cracked the golden bell with his sword, but the formation reinforced it as Wang Xian stood his ground.
• Wang Xian countered the old man's third strike with One Sword No Trace, and the Azure Edge Sword blazed with light and sent Sword Qi soaring into the sky.
• Little Bai, Donghuang Shuyu, and the others saw the heavenly Sword Qi from afar and wondered whether Wang Xian had encountered a powerful enemy.
• Wang Xian and the old man exchanged devastating sword strikes, and Wang Xian tore open the old man's chest before their clash fell silent.
• The old man acknowledged Wang Xian's strength, changed his torn robe, and then declared that he wanted both Wang Xian's life and his sword.

Wang Xian used the snowfall, chaotic power, and yin-yang laws to overwhelm the old man in a fierce battle at Ghosts' Bane. Though the old man was badly wounded and unable to heal, he unleashed one final sword strike and fled, while Wang Xian tried to keep him from escaping.

• Wang Xian confronted the old man as unnatural snow began falling over Ghosts' Bane and turned the wind, snow, sand, and dust into countless spirit swords.
• The old man summoned a black dragon of Killing Intent, but Wang Xian bound it with chaotic power and swallowed it with his black-and-white yin-yang fish.
• The spirit swords pierced the old man repeatedly, leaving him unable to heal, while Little Bai and the cultivators nearby watched the upheaval and hurried their work.
• Wang Xian told the old man that he was a divine dragon and warned that the old man's wounds would eventually drain his blood and kill him.
• The old man said Wang Xian could not keep him there, then poured his strength into one sword strike and fled toward the way he had come.

Wang Xian killed Dongfang Qiming with his array and hidden power, then returned to find Ghosts' Bane transformed and its residents breaking through. He met Qin Jun, the Grand General's military counselor, and asked whether the lord of Humen Pass had colluded with the barbarians.

• Wang Xian trapped Dongfang Qiming in the ten-li killing array and pierced his Divine Sea with an embroidery needle infused with a trace of chaos, killing him in the divine dragon's flames.
• Wang Xian returned to Xiaobai and learned that she and the other cultivators had broken through and undergone tribulations overnight.
• Long Xiangyu, Donghuang Shuyu, and the others discovered that Meihua Valley's plants, trees, and spiritual energy had transformed, while Donghuang Mingyuan recovered and approached another breakthrough.
• Qin Jun arrived from Humen Pass with bows, arrows, and provisions from the Grand General, and told Wang Xian that the Grand General could not leave the city.
• Wang Xian asked Qin Jun whether the lord of Humen Pass had colluded with the barbarians.

Wang Xian prepared Meihua Valley for attacks from Tiger Gate Pass while resolving to punish those involved in Netherworld Valley’s betrayal. The chapter ended as he spotted the City Lord’s Manor forces approaching and warned his companions that they had arrived.

• Wang Xian told the old man that people in Tiger Gate Pass had taken Spirit Stones from Netherworld Valley, and he suspected the city lord’s men had helped send cultivators to the barbarians.
• Wang Xian prepared rune arrows and altered the mountain defenses, while he and Little White spent three days laying formations and learning runecraft.
• Yu Henshui and deputy city lord Tian Jiyuan led more than two hundred men toward Netherworld Valley after city lord Wang Jinming learned that its Spirit Stone payments had stopped.
• Wang Xian saw a shooting star travel toward Qinghe, recognized it as a sign of approaching forces, and summoned Li Mengbai, Donghuang Mingyuan, and Qin Jun.
• Wang Xian told them that a general and an elder from the City Lord’s Manor had arrived, and Donghuang Mingyuan wondered if they meant to attack Meihua Valley.

Wang Xian prepared to confront the forces from Tiger Gate Pass alone, taking Donghuang Shuyu down the mountain while the others stayed behind. As the cavalry advanced through his prepared mountain pass, Wang Xian fired the first arrow.

• Wang Xian refused to let the old man and his companions join the fight, but agreed to bring Donghuang Shuyu with him.
• Wang Xian and the old man concluded that deputy city lord Tian Jiguang would lead the force of about two hundred people.
• Wang Xian disguised Donghuang Shuyu as an old woman, and the two went down the mountain to wait for the approaching force.
• Tian Jiguang dismissed Yu Henshui's suspicions about the unnaturally quiet mountain path and ordered the troops to hurry onward.
• The cultivators watching from Plum Blossom Valley worried about the approaching threat as the cavalry swept down the mountain road.
• Wang Xian loosed an iron arrow, panicking the warhorses.

Wang Xian and Donghuang Shuyu confronted Yu Henshui and Deputy City Lord Tian Jiguang on the mountain road leading to Netherworld Valley. After Wang Xian exposed the rulers of Tiger Gate Pass for dealing with the demons, Tian Jiguang decided to silence him, and two elders from the imperial capital stepped forward to kill him and Donghuang Shuyu.

• Wang Xian stopped Yu Henshui's column with an arrow and stood with Donghuang Shuyu, disguised as an old woman, to block the mountain road.
• Tian Jiguang dismissed Wang Xian as weak, while Yu Henshui advanced to challenge him and demand that he hand over the mines.
• Wang Xian identified Tian Jiguang as the deputy city lord and accused the lords of Tiger Gate Pass of dealing with the demons in Netherworld Valley.
• Tian Jiguang and Yu Henshui decided that Wang Xian and Donghuang Shuyu knew too much to be allowed to live.
• Two elders from the imperial capital came forward to kill Wang Xian and Donghuang Shuyu, and Wang Xian said his family was not in Tiger Gate Pass.

Wang Xian defended the mountain path against Tian Jiguang’s force, killing and wounding attackers with their own arrows. As the survivors advanced in a shield formation, Wang Xian prepared to face them with his sword.

• Wang Xian shot and killed four cultivators who charged him, shocking Tian Jiguang’s force.
• Yu Henshui ordered the archers to attack, but Wang Xian halted their arrows and sent them back, striking the archers and wounding the gray-robed elder.
• Tian Jiguang vowed to kill Wang Xian and ordered his guards and the Zhuge Lineage’s cultivators to form a shield formation and charge.
• Wang Xian told Donghuang Shuyu to retreat, then watched nearly two hundred armored cultivators advance in a long-serpent formation.
• Wang Xian asked Yu Henshui who would call the fallen soldiers’ souls back, then called to Long Xiangyu and prepared to draw his sword.
• Ziyu recognized the formation as a long-serpent formation and asked how Wang Xian would break it.

Wang Xian faced Tian Jiguang’s spiritual storm and the One-Line Long Serpent Formation, then broke both with his arrows and a formation laid along the mountain path. The assault ended in chaos, leaving Tian Jiguang’s forces wounded and terrified as Wang Xian drew his sword and stood ready to confront them.

• Tian Jiguang unleashed a massive spiritual vortex to support the charging One-Line Long Serpent Formation, while Donghuang Shuyu and the onlookers feared Wang Xian would be overwhelmed.
• Wang Xian fired a rune-engraved iron arrow that pierced the formation and shattered the vortex, revealing a golden sword formation he had set along the mountain path.
• Tian Jiguang intensified the storm and drew his spirit sword, but Wang Xian fired another arrow that struck a leading cultivator and stopped the storm just short of him.
• The golden swords sent the charging cultivators tumbling into the ditches, and the spiritual storm burst apart as Yu Henshui fled in terror.
• Wang Xian put away his bow, drew his Azure Edge Sword, and faced the surviving intruders in silence.

Wang Xian accused Tian Jiguang of colluding with the barbarian demons and demonstrated how he identified the refined crystals. Tian Jiguang sent his guards and Yu Henshui against him, and after Wang Xian struck Yu Henshui down, he confronted the guards as their sword formation advanced.

• Wang Xian destroyed Tian Jiguang's carriage and accused him of having ties to the barbarian demons.
• Wang Xian refined a crystal in front of Tian Jiguang and the others, showing the signs that exposed the crystals' nature.
• Tian Jiguang gathered sixteen personal guards into a sword formation and ordered them to attack Wang Xian.
• Yu Henshui charged ahead and struck at Wang Xian, who broke his sword and sent him tumbling into a ravine.
• Wang Xian pointed his sword at the advancing guards and asked whether they were also allied with the barbarian demons.

Wang Xian used One Sword No Trace to destroy Tian Jiguang’s sword formation and leave the deputy city lord as his only opponent. Tian Jiguang then summoned the vengeful souls of the dead into a deadly sword strike against Wang Xian.

• Wang Xian exposed doubts about Tian Jiguang’s loyalty, but Tian Jiguang ordered the guards to attack.
• Wang Xian leapt from the slope and used One Sword No Trace to split the road and break the sword formation, sending the guards tumbling into the ravine.
• Wang Xian and Tian Jiguang faced each other alone on the bloodied mountain road, while Donghuang Shuyu watched nearby.
• Wang Xian accused Tian Jiguang of colluding with Manxiao and pursuing the remaining crystals, and Tian Jiguang vowed to kill him.
• Tian Jiguang drew on the souls of the dead and formed a massive sword of deathly Sword Qi that he launched at Wang Xian.

Tian Jiguang unleashed a deadly poison and a sword formation made from the vengeful souls of his dead subordinates against Wang Xian. Wang Xian waited for the formation’s power to gather and summoned a lotus as the demonic sword bore down on him.

• Tian Jiguang summoned the vengeful souls of dead cultivators and drove them toward Wang Xian.
• Wang Xian warned Donghuang Shuyu about poison in the wind and sent her back up the mountain.
• Tian Jiguang combined the vengeful souls’ Sword Qi into a giant demonic sword and ordered them to attack Wang Xian.
• Qin Jun realized that Tian Jiguang had fallen to the demonic path as the mountain pass became a blood-soaked storm.
• Wang Xian waited for the sword formation to converge instead of striking, then formed a delicate lotus before him.