Chapter Summaries

After Wang Xian’s cauldron awakened and exploded, its fumes incapacitated Xu Baoshan and seven other disciples who came to attack him, leaving the Law Enforcement Hall facing an investigation. Wang Xian woke the next morning to find the rain had transformed the plants around his courtyard, and he sensed that the Azure Dragon Small Cauldron had recognized him as its master.

• Wang Xian collapsed while refining an aphrodisiac, and the cauldron awakened, exploded, and was struck by lightning.
• Xu Baoshan and seven black-clad disciples tried to break into Wang Xian’s courtyard, but the gate and walls repelled them and the medicinal fumes affected them.
• The eight disciples howled and ran through the night; their masters and elders eventually chained them to trees until the drug wore off.
• Hua Yurong received Xu Baoshan’s master’s demand for an investigation, while Wang Xian slept unaware of the trouble.
• Wang Xian woke after the rain and saw that the pear tree, flowers, and bamboo around his courtyard had grown dramatically.
• Wang Xian sensed a bond with the Azure Dragon Small Cauldron and beckoned to it.

Wang Xian concealed his role in the trouble that befell Xu Baoshan’s disciples, while Qin Jun and Hua Yurong accepted his explanation that he had simply passed out. After sharing a meal with them, Wang Xian said he wanted to go up the mountain.

• Qin Jun and several elders inspected Wang Xian’s courtyard, where a greatly enlarged pear tree and blood on the ground had appeared overnight.
• Wang Xian claimed he had passed out before refining a pill, and Qin Jun backed his account; the elders found the soil smelled of a Rejuvenation Pill and left without accusing him.
• Qin Jun told Wang Xian that Xu Baoshan and seven senior disciples had come to his courtyard the previous night and suffered through the night, while Wang Xian said his talismans had protected him.
• Qin Jun took Wang Xian to the library, then she and Hua Yurong watched him prepare mutton buns and questioned him about the incident involving Murong Wan'er.
• As they ate, Qin Jun asked what Wang Xian planned to do next, and he replied that he wanted to go up the mountain.

Wang Xian left Azure Cloud Sect to gather herbs in Azure Cloud Mountain, where he encountered a swarm of enormous bats and a tiger demon fleeing from them. The tiger demon broke through two of his trapping arrays, leaving Wang Xian to face the bats behind the protection of his last array.

• Wang Xian set out alone for Azure Cloud Mountain after Qin Jun gave him medicine and warned him to flee from dangerous demon beasts.
• Wang Xian spent three days in the mountain without finding notable demon beasts or valuable spirit herbs, then made camp beside a stream.
• A vast swarm of giant bats descended on Wang Xian, and his outer trapping array killed the bats that struck it.
• A golden tiger demon charged toward Wang Xian's fire, tore through two trapping arrays, and then turned to fight the bats pursuing it.
• The bats swarmed over and killed the tiger demon outside Wang Xian's remaining trapping array, leaving Wang Xian bracing for a fight.

Wang Xian used Hehuan Sect aphrodisiacs and burning talismans to defeat a swarm of bloodsucking demon bats in Azure Cloud Mountain. He met three Azure Cloud Sect disciples, proved his connection to Elder Qin, and explained that Disciplinary Hall Officer Hua had said he was too weak to join the sect.

• Wang Xian wrapped Hehuan Sect aphrodisiac pills in explosive talismans and scattered them among the bloodsucking bats, making them attack one another.
• Wang Xian unleashed burning talismans and killed the bats as they fought, leaving heaps of corpses around him.
• Yao Xiangyun, Yue Qingqing, and Chen Xiaotian approached Wang Xian with weapons drawn, then lowered them after he identified himself as a nonhostile traveler.
• Wang Xian told the three disciples that he was Elder Qin's student and had killed the bats, and they believed him after he mentioned Xu Baoshan.
• Yao Xiangyun examined Wang Xian's Library token and asked why he had not joined Azure Cloud Sect, prompting him to repeat Hua's judgment of his weak cultivation.

Wang Xian joined Chen Xiaotian, Yue Qingqing, and Yao Xiangyun to search a demon bat cave for treasures and spirit herbs. Deep inside, they discovered a huge surviving swarm of blood-sucking bats, which began swooping toward them.

• Wang Xian told Zhao Qingqing he could make Rejuvenation Pills if she brought him spirit herbs, then learned the nearby mountain areas had already been picked clean.
• The group spent the night by a fire, and Wang Xian stayed awake cultivating the Dao Scripture while the others slept.
• Chen Xiaotian persuaded the group to investigate the demon bats' cave, and they climbed vines up a cliff to reach its entrance.
• Wang Xian led the group into the cave, where Yue Qingqing, Yao Xiangyun, and Chen Xiaotian stepped into bat droppings.
• Chen Xiaotian cried out when the group found a vast swarm of blood-sucking bats hanging from the ceiling, and the bats began attacking.

Wang Xian and the three Azure Cloud Sect disciples explored a bat-filled cave and discovered carvings linking it to the sect’s founding patriarch. When tens of thousands of demon bats attacked, Yao Xiangyun used a scroll to escape with the others, leaving Wang Xian trapped in a crack.

• Yao Xiangyun blasted the bats with an explosive talisman, and the group continued deeper into the cave despite Wang Xian urging them to turn back.
• Wang Xian and the others found the words “The Door to All Wonders” carved into the wall, and Yue Qingqing recalled that the Azure Cloud Sect’s founding patriarch had once cultivated in the mountains.
• The four pressed on through the narrowing cave, where Wang Xian heard bats gathering ahead and warned Yao Xiangyun that her talisman would not work against their numbers.
• Yao Xiangyun threw another explosive talisman, and the blast hurled Wang Xian into a crack in the wall as the bats swarmed the others.
• Yao Xiangyun opened a scroll and vanished with Yue Qingqing and Chen Xiaotian, leaving Wang Xian behind.

Wang Xian used aphrodisiac, explosive talismans, and divine dragon fire to escape the bloodsucking bats and continued alone into the cave. He found an underground plaza carved with a scene of a dragon being slain, where a sudden surge of spiritual pressure left him facing a possible awakening statue.

• Wang Xian set off the aphrodisiac and talismans, driving the bloodsucking bats into a frenzy before burning them and breaking free from the cave wall.
• Yao Xiangyun teleported Chen Xiaotian and Yue Qingqing back to the Azure Cloud Sect, leaving Wang Xian behind as they escaped the bats.
• Qin Jun treated Chen Xiaotian and Yue Qingqing's bites and reassured herself that Wang Xian was still alive, while Yao Xiangyun asked whether they should rescue him.
• Wang Xian pressed deeper into the cave and discovered a paved underground plaza covered with carvings of a dragon-slaying scene.
• A surge of spiritual pressure appeared near the carved statue, and Wang Xian raised his defenses and wondered whether it could come to life.

Wang Xian discovered Ruoruo, a dragon from Dragon Valley imprisoned on an altar in Azure Cloud Mountain, and heard Ruoruo’s account of the Demon Realm conflict that led to his capture. Ruoruo’s story challenged the version Wang Xian had read in Azure Cloud Sect’s library, and he insisted the bloodshed could not be erased.

• A golden formation awakened in the plaza, revealing Ruoruo chained to an altar after eight hundred years of imprisonment.
• Ruoruo identified himself as a Dragon Valley prisoner framed over a ten-thousand-year-old divine herb, and Wang Xian told him the Azure Cloud Sect founder had disappeared eight hundred years earlier.
• Wang Xian gave Ruoruo spiritual wine and roasted rabbit, helping him recover enough strength to speak.
• Wang Xian claimed he had escaped from the lower realm and entered the mountains seeking opportunities, while keeping his distance from Ruoruo.
• Ruoruo explained that rival sects had lured him and Dongfang Yun to Azure Cloud Mountain with false news of a divine herb, hoping to provoke a devastating war.
• Wang Xian observed that history was written by the winners, and Ruoruo replied that the truth could be whitewashed but the bloodshed could not be erased.

Wang Xian learned that Juruo had been framed alongside Dongfang Yun and had survived a thousand years of captivity with a divine herb and bloodsucking bats. Juruo revealed his identity as a prodigy of Dragon Valley and prepared to escape, while Wang Xian worried that his revenge would endanger Hua Yurong and Qin Jun.

• Juruo explained that Dongfang Yun had trapped him after they fought over ten-thousand-year-old divine herbs, and Wang Xian suspected that others had planted the herbs to frame them both.
• Juruo realized that he may have been set up and said he would destroy the Azure Cloud Sect and pursue revenge against those responsible.
• Wang Xian feared Juruo's revenge would threaten Hua Yurong and Qin Jun, but Juruo told him that his karma would not affect Wang Xian if he was not from the Demon Realm.
• Juruo called on Wang Xian to help him escape, then transformed his arms into dragon claws and released a powerful dragon's breath.
• Juruo identified himself as Juruo of Dragon Valley, and Wang Xian reacted with shock at the connection to Dragon Valley.

Wang Xian learned why the old man had been imprisoned in Azure Cloud Mountain and heard his theory that the Dao and demonic paths depended on the cultivator’s heart. The old man suggested Heaven had sent Wang Xian to help him leave his thousand-year confinement, and Wang Xian asked how he planned to escape.

• The old man told Wang Xian that Dragon Valley and the Demon Realm were in the Demon Realm, and explained that rivals had framed him to make him fight Dongfang Yun over two ten-thousand-year divine medicines.
• The old man demonstrated a divine radiance that combined golden light and black mist, forming a half-divine, half-demonic dragon.
• The old man explained that the Dao and demonic paths could merge, and argued that right and wrong depended on a cultivator’s heart rather than their path.
• Wang Xian wondered whether Buddhist teachings could also be combined with the Dao and demonic paths, while remaining wary of the old man.
• The old man said Heaven had brought Wang Xian to the cave so he could leave after a thousand years of confinement, and Wang Xian asked how he would escape.

The old man tried to lure Wang Xian into becoming his disciple and helping him escape, but Wang Xian rejected him and resisted his attack. Trapped by a collapsed cave and overwhelmed by the old man's spiritual sword, Wang Xian fell to the ground as the old man prepared to face him.

• The old man recounted his past and offered to make Wang Xian his disciple, promising to infuse him with dragon power.
• Wang Xian refused the old man's offer, remembered his own past suffering, and resisted the old man's attempt to draw him closer.
• Wang Xian attacked the old man with a lotus seal, but the old man remained unharmed and blasted him backward.
• The cave behind Wang Xian collapsed, blocking his escape, and the old man attacked again as Wang Xian used a burning rune and summoned the Giant Fault.
• The old man struck Wang Xian's Divine Sea with a spiritual sword, making him drop the Giant Fault and collapse, and Wang Xian shouted that he was shameless.

Wang Xian resisted the imprisoned divine dragon’s attempt to make him sever his chains, using wine and banter to provoke him into attacking. When the old man finally struck, Wang Xian’s sword pierced his spatial barrier, but the dragon caught the Great Que Sword and declared that fate was helping him.

• The old man tried to persuade Wang Xian to cut his chains in exchange for power, but Wang Xian refused and resisted his control.
• After night fell, the old man seized Wang Xian’s spirit wine and drank it, restoring his vitality as Wang Xian challenged and mocked him.
• The old man offered spirit herbs for another jug of wine, but Wang Xian rejected the offer and accused him of planning to devour him or take over his body.
• Wang Xian dared the old man to take the sword, and the old man launched a tornado at him.
• Wang Xian extinguished his candle, evaded the attack, and struck with the Great Que Sword, which pierced the old man’s spatial barrier.
• The old man caught the Great Que Sword with his dragon claw and laughed that fate was helping him.

Wang Xian fought the ancient dragon soul that tried to possess him, then used the Coiling Dragon Heaven-Waste Sword to cut the soul in half. The old man survived in his ruined body, but the black blood he spat onto the altar caught fire.

• Wang Xian struck the old man off the altar, but the old man overpowered him and entered his Divine Sea to seize his body.
• Wang Xian recalled the sword Yang Wanjin had left within him and summoned the Coiling Dragon Heaven-Waste Sword.
• The sword unleashed One Sword No Trace and Soul Devouring, cleaving the old man's dragon soul and devouring half of it.
• The sword vanished after its attack, and Wang Xian escaped the altar with the Giant Quake Sword.
• The old man's hair turned gray, and after he spat blood onto the altar, his black dragon blood burst into flames.

Wang Xian poisoned the old Divine Dragon, then comprehended the sword marks in the cave and learned the Gentleman's Sword. After destroying the altar and freeing the old man, Wang Xian revealed he had also fallen to demonic corruption, while the old man warned him that heavenly tribulations and the Dragon Clan would eventually bring his downfall.

• The old man realized Wang Xian had poisoned him, while Wang Xian became absorbed in the sword marks on the cave walls.
• Wang Xian comprehended the sword intent left by Dongfang Yun and carved the words “The profound and mysterious, the gateway to all wonders” into the stone wall.
• Wang Xian used a sword strike to shatter the altar and sever the chains that had bound the old man for a thousand years.
• The old man recognized Wang Xian's sword as the Gentleman's Sword and warned that devouring half his Divine Soul would cause Wang Xian to fall to demonic corruption.
• Wang Xian displayed black mist on his sword and challenged the heavens, while the old man warned that heavenly tribulations and the Dragon Clan would punish him for killing a Divine Dragon.

Wang Xian survived the dying old man's devastating attack by using his own power of laws, then killed the old man and destroyed his Divine Soul. He collected the dragon pearl and Storage Ring, discovering that the ring contained a small world.

• The old man cursed Wang Xian and warned that people would blame him for Dongfang Yun's death once they learned he had mastered the Gentleman's Sword.
• The old man summoned a golden divine sword and a demonic sword, but Wang Xian used his power of laws to make the attack unable to reach him.
• Wang Xian struck the old man with One Sword No Trace and One Sword Startles Gods, killing his body and severing his dragon head.
• The Great Dipper Sword devoured the old man's escaping Divine Soul, leaving him no chance to reincarnate.
• Wang Xian took the dragon pearl and Storage Ring, burned the corpse, and discovered that the ring contained a small world.

Wang Xian collected Ru Ruo’s treasures and used the dragon blood, dragon bones, and ants to refine a mysterious pill he named the Carefree Pill. He realized his Divine Sea had changed dramatically before exhaustion overcame him, and he woke to darkness and an unfamiliar voice asking who he was.

• Wang Xian burned away the Dragon Ring’s dragon insignia, transferred its Spirit Stones, ores, and dragon fangs into his jade wall, and discovered Ru Ruo’s spirit herb garden.
• Wang Xian gathered poisoned dragon blood, powdered dragon bones, and a mass of ants before they disappeared, then added them to a batch of medicine.
• Wang Xian spent two hours refining a patterned deep purple pill and named it the Carefree Pill.
• Wang Xian reflected on how he had unleashed One Sword No Trace and discovered that his Divine Sea and Divine Soul had become extraordinarily powerful.
• Wang Xian wondered how to escape the collapsed cave, then fell unconscious and later awoke to darkness as a warm voice asked, “Who are you?”

Wang Xian met Dongfang Yun, the Azure Cloud Sect’s founder, in the cave and confronted him for standing by while he fought Konjac. Dongfang Yun showed Wang Xian a seed’s life cycle, leaving him to reflect on birth, death, and the meaning of being unborn and undying.

• Wang Xian woke to find Dongfang Yun in the cave and learned that eight hundred years had passed since the founder disappeared.
• Wang Xian explained that he had come from the lower realm, described how Yue Qingqing and the others abandoned him, and said he had slain Konjac.
• Dongfang Yun asked whether Konjac had told Wang Xian about their grudge, and Wang Xian angrily challenged him for failing to help.
• Dongfang Yun used a drop of spring water to make an ancient seed grow into a bodhi tree, which flourished and then crumbled to dust.
• Wang Xian watched the seed’s life and death and reflected that he had witnessed what it meant to be unborn, undying, and indestructible.

Wang Xian received a ray of golden light and discussed the Dao, abandonment, and his past with Dongfang Yun, who revealed the history behind the imprisoned devil's tongue. Dongfang Yun then asked about Wang Xian's Giant Que Sword, and Wang Xian wondered whether he had deliberately shown him the sword marks on the cave wall.

• A golden ray entered Wang Xian's palm and spread through his body, and Dongfang Yun guided him to see the Dao in its patterns.
• Dongfang Yun urged Wang Xian not to be wounded by abandonment, and Wang Xian let go of his attachment to the Azure Cloud Sect senior sister.
• Dongfang Yun revealed that the devil's tongue had killed his wife, so he had imprisoned him in the mountains eight hundred years earlier.
• Wang Xian demanded that Dongfang Yun answer for leaving him to bear the karmic debt with Dragon Valley, then refused to become a disciple because he still wanted to return to the lower world.
• Wang Xian told Dongfang Yun that he had traveled to the Eastern Victory Divine Continent and back, and Dongfang Yun asked about the Giant Que Sword.
• After Wang Xian described the sword as a sword heart he had only recently been able to lift, he pointed at the sword marks and asked whether Dongfang Yun had shown them to him deliberately.

Dongfang Yun imprinted the cave’s sword marks into Wang Xian and taught him how to shape and control sword intent, then showed him a vision of Wang Xian and Li Dalu visiting the dying Li Mubai. The chapter left Li Dalu grieving at Misty Rain Lake as Wang Xian suggested that Li Mubai might undergo Nirvana and be reborn.

• Dongfang Yun turned the cave’s sword marks into a golden sword that entered Wang Xian’s meridians, and Wang Xian used sword intent to shatter the stone wall.
• Dongfang Yun taught Wang Xian to condense sword intent into fine threads and control its force, then asked whether Wang Xian wanted to see a sage’s sword.
• Dongfang Yun showed Wang Xian a vision of himself and Li Dalu bringing the ailing Li Mubai from the Academy to Misty Rain Lake.
• Wang Xian gave Li Mubai spirit wine, but Li Dalu said the teacher’s failing vitality could not be restored even by divine medicine.
• Li Mubai told Li Dalu that their time as master and disciple was ending, and Li Dalu begged to go with him.
• Wang Xian told Li Dalu that Li Mubai might be undergoing Nirvana and be reborn.

Wang Xian, Li Dalu, and their dying teacher shared a final visit to Misty Rain Lake, where they reflected on the past and their different paths. As the imperial carriage emerged and cultivators gathered to prey on the teacher, Wang Xian drew his sword and faced the approaching threat.

• Wang Xian explained that the teacher’s choice not to save Li Dalu had entrusted his fate to him, and Li Dalu survived through the dragon-blood medicine and dragon pearl.
• Wang Xian teased Li Dalu about finding a wife, while the teacher recalled Bai Youyue and urged Li Dalu to find a companion.
• Wang Xian told Li Dalu that he could not follow his dangerous path, and the teacher said the two students had different temperaments.
• Wang Xian sensed trouble approaching, and Li Dalu declared that he would cut ties with the person in the imperial palace and recognize only the teacher as his master.
• The imperial carriage left the palace as cultivators from several sects gathered near Misty Rain Lake, drawn by the teacher’s dwindling life force.
• A sword rang across the lake as Wang Xian unleashed his killing intent against the approaching cultivators.