Chapter Summaries

Bai Youyue told the emperor that she and Wang Xian would leave the world within ten years, then faced Consort Shu’s accusation that she had ruined the Crown Prince’s cultivation. As the Great General hurried into the palace, the emperor asked Bai Youyue how to handle the fallout.

• Bai Youyue told the emperor that Wang Xian had no interest in the dynasty and that they would leave the world within ten years; the emperor then considered pursuing cultivation himself.
• The emperor learned that his eldest son had lost his cultivation and fallen to the Golden Core realm after confronting Bai Youyue.
• Consort Shu entered the imperial study and accused Bai Youyue of trying to kill her child, while her eunuch demanded justice.
• Bai Youyue challenged Consort Shu to consider the cultivators killed at Tiger Gate Pass and warned that the Four Great Sects might demand answers.
• The old eunuch slapped Consort Shu’s eunuch, and the emperor rebuked Consort Shu before asking Bai Youyue for advice.
• Bai Youyue sensed the Great General entering the palace and said he had arrived.

Bai Youyue parted from the emperor after learning that Wang Xian had disappeared into Meihua Valley, while Qin Wentian returned from Tiger Gate Pass with Wang Xian’s letter. In the imperial capital, Li Mengbai reunited with Meng Xiaolou, Ximen Tinghua, and Tang Shisan, and they learned that each had survived the Heavenly Road thanks to Wang Xian, who remained missing.

• Bai Youyue returned her jade pendant to the emperor and declared that she had cut ties with him, then asked Qin Wentian to tell the Academy’s teacher about the Southern Border.
• Qin Wentian arrived and delivered Wang Xian’s letter; Bai Youyue read it, praised Wang Xian for keeping certain matters secret, and learned that he had made Netherworld Valley into Meihua Valley.
• The emperor read Wang Xian’s letter and concluded that the young man was safe from pursuit for now, while Qin Wentian assured him that Tiger Gate Pass would remain secure for decades.
• Bai Youyue left the palace with Old Yuan and toured the imperial capital before deciding to visit her teacher at the Academy.
• At Hundred Flowers Tower, Li Mengbai reunited with Meng Xiaolou, Ximen Tinghua, and Tang Shisan, who said Wang Xian had saved their lives on the Heavenly Road.
• Li Mengbai told the group that hundreds of people owed Wang Xian their lives after the battle in the Southern Border, and Meng Xiaolou asked where Wang Xian was.

At the Flower-Filled Tower, Wang Xian’s companions learned how he had saved Tang Shisan and the others on the Heavenly Road before cutting ties with them, while the First Prince plotted revenge against Bai Youyue. Wang Xian disappeared without explanation, and as his companions worried over the growing threats, Hua Mantian warned that anyone who pursued him or his master would die.

• Tang Shisan and Meng Xiaolou told Donghuang Shuyu and the others how Wang Xian had slain powerful enemies on the Heavenly Road and cut ties with his companions to protect them.
• After Bai Youyue gravely wounded the First Prince, he asked Nalan Qiuqiu to spread word that she was the witch sought by the great sects so returning prodigies might kill her.
• Wang Xian vanished from Meihua Valley, while Bai Youyue summoned Hua Mantian to meet her at Wutong Academy in two days.
• A Heavenly Saint Sect disciple invited Donghuang Shuyu and Donghuang Mingyuan to meet Bai Yijun, who had saved Donghuang Shuyu on the Heavenly Road.
• Tang Shisan explained that Wang Xian had rescued her, Meng Xiaolou, and Ximen Tinghua in Sand City before disowning them to protect them from the Four Great Sects.
• Hua Mantian warned that anyone who went after Wang Xian and Bai Youyue would meet their death.

Tang Shisan learned that Wang Xian had killed her brother Tang Qi, while Tang Qingyu began explaining the events behind it. In a dream, Wang Xian heard about the upheaval in the Imperial City and feared the Four Great Sects might retaliate against the Academy.

• Tang Qingyu confronted Tang Shisan and revealed that Wang Xian had killed Tang Qi and the Tang Clan elders, prompting Meng Xiaolou and Ximen Tinghua to urge them to investigate the cause.
• Tang Qingyu began telling Tang Shisan how Tang Qi had met Wang Xian's older brother and how she had met Wang Xian.
• Wang Xian dreamed of his teacher, who told him that Tang Tian and Li Yu had become disciples of the Academy's dean, Huangfu Xuanyuan.
• Wang Xian's teacher recounted how Bai Youyue had killed Yu Henshui and Wang Jinming and crippled the First Prince in the Imperial City.
• Wang Xian realized Bai Youyue's actions could provoke the Four Great Sects and asked whether they would attack the Academy.

Wang Xian gave his teacher a mysterious pill for Bai Youyue to use before her dangerous tribulation on Broken Dragon Mountain, along with a Storage Ring and her bamboo bow. At Misty Rain Lake, Tang Qingyu’s sisters realized Wang Xian had helped them more than they knew, and Tang Shisan asked whether he had avenged Tang Qingyu’s fiancé.

• Wang Xian learned that Bai Youyue planned to force a breakthrough and undergo tribulation on Broken Dragon Mountain, with the Four Great Sects threatening her.
• Wang Xian gave his teacher a life-saving pill for Bai Youyue, asking her to share half with the old ape, and handed over a Storage Ring of demon beasts and Bai Youyue’s bamboo bow.
• Wang Xian told his teacher that Ao Qianyu had taken Little White and ascended, while he had stayed behind because of the promises and ties he still had.
• Wang Xian asked his teacher to tell Bai Youyue not to worry about him, and his teacher promised to wait for his return to the Academy.
• Tang Qingyu finished recounting Wang Xian’s story to Tang Shisan, Meng Xiaolou, and Ximen Tinghua, who recalled how he had helped them.
• Tang Qingyu revealed that she had pursued the Three Heroes of the Desert to avenge her fiancé, and Tang Shisan asked whether Wang Xian had helped her take revenge.

Bai Youyue learned that Wang Xian had sent her a bow, arrows, and Chaotic Qi to help her face her tribulation, and she prepared to use the opportunity to confront the Four Great Sects. At Misty Rain Lake, Tang Qingyu watched Ximen Tinghua practice swordplay and called out to him.

• Tang Qingyu wondered whether Wang Xian had become involved with Long Qingmei, while Tang Shisan recalled how the Tang sisters and their clan had wronged him.
• The teacher gave Bai Youyue Wang Xian's bamboo bow, seven arrows, Chaotic Qi, and a Storage Ring, then explained Wang Xian's recent journey and why he had not ascended with the Dragon Clan princess.
• Bai Youyue learned that Wang Xian had left gifts for her and the old ape to help them break through, and she decided to use her tribulation to surprise the Four Great Sects if they came seeking revenge.
• Tang Qingyu and Tang Shisan heard zither music at Misty Rain Lake, where Ximen Tinghua was practicing swordplay in the snow.
• Tang Qingyu watched Ximen Tinghua's sword dance and called out that she wanted to see his sword.

Tang Qingyu drew Ximen Tinghua’s golden sword, revealing the match Wang Xian had arranged for them, and the group left Misty Rain Lake together. In the imperial study, the emperor told Prince Duan and the Prince of the Western Frontier that the Great General had returned and that he would begin cutting heads in the capital.

• Tang Shisan and Tang Qingyu found Ximen Tinghua at Misty Rain Lake, where Tang Shisan and Meng Xiaolou failed to draw his golden sword.
• Tang Qingyu drew the sword and unleashed a streak of Sword Qi that tore through the clouds, while Ximen Tinghua and the others realized the sword had chosen her.
• Meng Xiaolou explained that Wang Xian had said any woman who drew Ximen Tinghua’s sword would become his woman, and Tang Shisan urged them to hold an engagement banquet.
• Ximen Tinghua confirmed the sword came from the Heavenly Road but refused to explain further, and Tang Qingyu followed him and the others away from the lake.
• Prince Duan and the Prince of the Western Frontier asked the emperor about the First Prince’s injury, and the emperor said the Great General had returned from Tiger Gate Pass and that he would start cutting heads in the capital.

The emperor punished those responsible for the Tiger Gate Pass disaster and warned his brothers not to interfere with Bai Youyue as the Four Great Sects learned she was at Wutong Academy. The sects prepared to capture her, while Hua Mantian decided to leave for Wutong Academy the next day.

• The emperor and the Great General punished the princes and officials connected to Tiger Gate Pass, stripped Wang Yuwen of his post, and ordered the verdict announced.
• The emperor told Prince Duan and Prince of the West that anyone in the imperial court who joined forces with the martial world against Master Bai would be punished.
• Bai Yijun confirmed to Bai Wuhen and Shangguan Hao that the witch was at Wutong Academy, and the Heavenly Saint Sect moved to coordinate with the other Great Sects.
• Granny Hundred Flowers and Shangguan Hao agreed to organize an attack on Wutong Academy within three days.
• Hua Mantian told Tang Shisan and her companions that she would leave for Wutong Academy the next day to pursue her breakthrough and tribulation.
• As Tang Shisan and the others entered Hundred Flowers Tower with Hua Mantian, a woman called out for them to wait.

Tang Shisan and the others learned that the Four Great Sects planned to gather at Wutong Academy to kill the witch who had reappeared, while a violent, mysterious snowstorm struck the Imperial City. At the Kunlun Sword Sect residence, Nangong Zhilan and Nangong Fei'er heard that the woman had entered the imperial palace and gone to Wutong Academy.

• Tang Qingyu drew a golden spirit sword that responded to her as if she were its destined master, astonishing Tang Shisan, Meng Xiaolou, and Ximen Tinghua.
• Long Qingmei told Tang Qingyu and Tang Shisan that Wang Xian had turned away from them after overhearing their earlier remarks, and the group discussed how far beyond them he had become.
• Hua Mantian reported that trouble was brewing in the Imperial City, and Long Qingmei revealed that the Four Great Sects had summoned cultivators to Wutong Academy in three days to kill the missing witch.
• A violent gust shattered the private room's window and sent cutting snow through the room, leaving Meng Xiaolou and Ximen Tinghua to suspect the storm was unnatural.
• Nangong Zhilan asked Dongfang Xuanyi about Hundred Flowers Valley's invitation to discuss the witch, and Yan Ruobing rushed in with news that the woman had entered the imperial palace and gone to Wutong Academy.

The Four Great Sects prepared to attack Wutong Academy in three days, while Hua Mantian hurried to find Bai Youyue and Tang Shisan arranged Tang Qingyu and Ximen Tinghua’s engagement. At the Academy, Bai Youyue worried about her crippled disciple and Wang Xian’s unexplained absence, just as someone burst into the blacksmith’s shop with alarming news.

• Dongfang Xuanyi, Yan Ruobing, and Nangong Zhilan discussed pursuing the witch, and they agreed to consult Granny Hundred Flowers the next day.
• Hua Mantian decided to travel through the night to Wutong Academy, while Tang Shisan arranged Tang Qingyu and Ximen Tinghua’s engagement.
• The Four Great Sects prepared to go to Wutong Academy in three days, unaware that the Academy’s residents knew nothing of the coming attack.
• At the Academy, Tang Tian, Li Yu, and Huangfu Xuanyuan prepared to eat spirit-medicine meat, while the others wondered where Wang Xian had gone.
• Bai Youyue asked Sir about her disciple’s crippled legs and Wang Xian’s whereabouts, but neither he nor Old Yuan revealed any answers.
• A gust of wind blasted open the blacksmith’s shop door, and a panicked voice announced that something terrible had happened.

Bai Youyue prepared to leave the Academy for Broken Dragon Mountain and ascend, while the Academy sealed itself against the Four Great Sects. She left with Zijing, Wang Yu'an, and Hua Mantian, and the others remained behind to delay the sects.

• Hua Mantian hurried to the Academy to warn Bai Youyue, but found everyone eating demon-beast meat at the blacksmith's shop.
• Huangfu Xuanyuan activated the Academy's protective arrays and ordered that no one enter or leave until spring, expecting the Four Great Sects to cause trouble.
• Bai Youyue told the teacher and the blacksmith that she would leave the next day for Broken Dragon Mountain, where she intended to ascend.
• Bai Youyue left the Academy with Zijing, Wang Yu'an, and Hua Mantian, instructing the teacher and the blacksmith not to intervene in her affairs.
• The teacher told Li Dalu to make the Four Great Sects wait two days before revealing where Bai Youyue had gone.
• As they walked through the snow, Zijing asked what she should do if she could not obtain what she wanted, and Bai Youyue told her that even a phoenix had pride of its own.

Wang Xian met Yang Wanjin in a mysterious garden, where she explained that his two damaged divine swords had to be combined into one. They went to a hidden sword shop, where an old man was surprised to see Wang Xian.

• Ziqin returned home with Wang Yu'an and prepared to break through, while Bai Youyue planned to leave for Broken Dragon Mountain with Old Yuan and Hua Mantian.
• Wang Xian awoke by Brightmoon Lake and realized Mr. Bai had visited him and left behind bamboo weapons, spirit pills, and black snake meat.
• Wang Xian entered a strange garden and met the woman in white, who revealed that her name was Yang Wanjin and agreed to guide him.
• Yang Wanjin explained that the Coiling Dragon Divine Sword and Heavenly Wilderness Sword were both damaged and urged Wang Xian to combine them before they shattered.
• Yang Wanjin led Wang Xian through a hidden alley to a sword shop, where an old man in the courtyard was startled by Wang Xian's presence.

Yang Wanjin brought Wang Xian to an old swordsmith to fuse the damaged Divine Swords Heaven's Desolation and Panlong, offering rare wine and Wang Xian’s divine dragon fire in exchange. The old man began the forging, while Panlong’s full power remained beyond Wang Xian’s reach because he was still too weak.

• Yang Wanjin introduced Wang Xian to the old man and asked him to fuse two Divine Swords into one.
• Wang Xian revealed Heaven’s Desolation and Panlong, and the old man said both swords had only a final wisp of divinity left.
• Wang Xian showed the old man his divine dragon fire, and Yang Wanjin offered him wine made with a divine flower from the Yellow Springs.
• Wang Xian showed the old man an iron arrow infused with frigid poison, which impressed him.
• The old man led Yang Wanjin and Wang Xian to his forge, set down both swords, and summoned black flame to begin the fusion.

Wang Xian watched the old man fuse two Divine Swords and prepare an extraordinary batch of pills, then received a wooden bow in exchange for owing him a favor. He remained on the Heavenly Street rather than ascend, and his claim that a friend could draw the bow left the old man eager to meet her.

• Wang Xian returned from forging arrows as Yang Wanjin waited, and the old man invited them to see the pills he was refining.
• Yang Wanjin identified the rare ingredients in the furnace and offered the old man Wang Xian's unused Golden Core to complete the batch.
• Yang Wanjin told Wang Xian he could remain on the Heavenly Street without facing ascension tribulation, but he chose to stay because he still had things to do.
• The old man threw Wang Xian's iron bow into the sky, then offered him a wooden bow in exchange for a favor; Wang Xian accepted but could only draw it halfway.
• Wang Xian said his friend Ziqing could draw the bow, prompting the old man to agree to meet her and consider taking her as a disciple.

Wang Xian helped the old man forge the Panlong Tianhuang Sword, then watched him finish a batch of priceless spirit pills. After Wang Xian secured a pill and a jade pendant for his lower-world disciple, Yang Wanjin prepared to take him to witness a moment from the Panlong Sword’s past.

• Wang Xian endured two days of forging before the old man fused the Tianhuang Sword and Panlong Sword into the Panlong Tianhuang Sword and quenched it in ten-thousand-year-old black ice.
• The old man gave Wang Xian a sword case and warned that the 199-jin Divine Sword was too heavy for him to wield until he reached Spirit Transformation.
• The old man took spirit pills from the furnace, and Yang Wanjin made him swallow one with spirit wine; Wang Xian received a pill of his own.
• The old man asked Wang Xian to reserve a spirit pill for his unseen disciple, and gave him a yellow jade pendant to help her find her way to him someday.
• Yang Wanjin promised Wang Xian three Sword Qi attacks for protection and said she would take him to see a moment from the Panlong Sword’s past.

Wang Xian accompanied Yang Wanjin to the Land Forsaken by the Gods, where she sought to borrow a weapon from a man preserved in a stone coffin. When the man rejected her spirit pill, Wang Xian offered a drop of water in exchange, and the chapter ended as he opened his jade bottle to pour it.

• Wang Xian and Yang Wanjin shopped in Heavenly Street, and he explained that he had cut ties with friends to protect them from his master's enemies.
• Yang Wanjin led Wang Xian through a desolate realm, feeding its zombie-like inhabitants paper money, incense, candles, and spirit wine.
• Yang Wanjin explained that the Land Forsaken by the Gods preserved the Divine Souls of dead cultivators who awaited the River of Time's Divine Ship.
• Wang Xian and Yang Wanjin encountered an armored man in a stone coffin, and Yang Wanjin asked to borrow his weapon for a hundred years.
• The man rejected Yang Wanjin's spirit pill, but agreed to give Wang Xian the iron rod in exchange for one drop of water.
• Wang Xian opened a jade bottle and prepared to pour a drop into the man's mouth, while Yang Wanjin watched in alarm.

Wang Xian and Yang Wanjin reached the River of Time as the Netherworld Ship appeared, drawing ancient coffins and their occupants to the bank. Yang Wanjin planned to take Wang Xian upstream toward a moment in his past life, but another ship appeared before they could board.

• Wang Xian gave the man in the stone coffin a drop of water, then learned that the heavy sword heart was part of Coiling Dragon and took it to practice with.
• Yang Wanjin told Wang Xian that the River of Time lay ahead and that the Netherworld Ship would appear, prompting ancient coffins to leave the cliff and gather at the riverbank.
• Wang Xian tried to collect the river water, but it dissolved his hands to bone before the Immortal Longevity Scripture restored his flesh.
• The Netherworld Ship arrived, and Yang Wanjin explained that its first ship traveled to the future while she intended to take Wang Xian upstream to see the Coiling Dragon Divine Sword in his past life.
• As Wang Xian and Yang Wanjin watched the scene at the river, Yang Wanjin spotted another ship approaching.

Wang Xian and Yang Wanjin boarded a Netherworld boat and endured the Divine River’s passage through time by joining life and death through their cultivation. Back at Wutong Academy, the blacksmith warned the teacher that the Four Great Sects might attack, and the teacher told him to watch what happened.

• Stone and wooden coffins, along with zombies and earth corpses, fought to board the Netherworld boats, and the boats soon departed from the riverbank.
• An earth corpse dragged Wang Xian into the Divine River, but he destroyed it, survived as a skeleton, and climbed aboard the boat with Yang Wanjin.
• Weak Water rotted Yang Wanjin’s body, and Wang Xian used his cultivation to draw vitality from the river as both of them crossed between life and death.
• At Moonlit Lake, the crow and Hu Keke waited for Wang Xian to wake from a two-day sleep and hoped nothing would happen before next autumn.
• At Wutong Academy, the blacksmith warned the teacher that the Four Great Sects might attack, and the teacher calmly told him to watch the show.

The Four Great Sects prepared to march on Wutong Academy while Bai Youyue brought Hua Mantian and Old Yuan to a hidden cavern on Broken Dragon Mountain. Dantai Xiaoxue and Tang Shisan’s group set out for the Academy, wary of provoking Wang Xian when he returned.

• The blacksmith and the gentleman discussed the Four Great Sects’ plans, Wang Xian’s possible return, and the legendary Divine Sword.
• Bai Youyue, Hua Mantian, and Old Yuan opened a hidden entrance on Broken Dragon Mountain and settled inside the cavern.
• Bai Youyue revealed that Wang Xian had stood before the Spirit Transformation gate years earlier and said she wanted Hua Mantian to accompany them through the breakthrough and tribulation.
• Dantai Xiaoxue joined the Kunlun Sword Sect’s elders and disciples, learned that Dongfang Nishang would not join them, and agreed to travel with them to Wutong Academy.
• Tang Shisan, Meng Xiaolou, Ximen Tinghua, and their companion prepared to visit the Academy, deciding not to provoke anyone because Wang Xian was connected to the Demon King.

Cultivators from across the realm gathered to besiege Wutong Academy, but its mountain-protecting formation stopped them at the gate. As the Academy’s leaders deliberately stalled the invaders, Bai Youyue prepared to lure them into a dangerous tribulation at Broken Dragon Mountain.

• The emperor let the cultivators head for the Academy, confident they would be unable to cause trouble afterward.
• Huangfu Xuanyuan, the teacher, and the blacksmith agreed to leave the cultivators waiting outside the mountain for several days.
• Bai Youyue told Old Yuan that they would leave Broken Dragon Mountain for Wang Xian and use its cliffs as a place for breakthroughs and tribulations.
• Li Dalu and the Academy’s students watched the cultivator army arrive, and Li Dalu shot an arrow bearing the words “Get lost!” through the mountain formation.
• Granny Hundred Flowers and Bai Wuhen demanded that the Academy open its gates, while Huangfu Xuanyuan discussed Bai Wuhen’s stalled cultivation with the teacher and Old Man Sun.