Chapter Summaries

Li Zhexian trapped thousands of desperadoes in a valley and used Mourning Mandara to strip them of their Soul Power before slaughtering them. As their resentment flowed into Styx Blood Grudge Incense and blood infused his Azure Lotus Sword, he continued forging the wine and sword he sought.

• Li Zhexian awakened Mourning Mandara with Immortal Brew, engulfing the valley in poisonous miasma that drained the Soul Power of the desperadoes inside.
• Tang San and Hu Liena escaped the valley, while Qian Renxue joined Li Zhexian and sealed its entrance.
• Li Zhexian declared that he would brew River of Forgetfulness Wine with the dead souls’ dirge and forge a sword of killing intent with their blood and bones.
• Li Zhexian slaughtered the powerless desperadoes, and their blood turned the Azure Lotus Sword increasingly scarlet.
• Resentment rose from the corpses into the vessel of Styx Blood Grudge Incense as Li Zhexian continued his massacre.

Li Zhexian slaughtered the desperadoes in the valley to temper his killing sword intent, recognizing that the blood aura coating his blade was not true sword intent. After killing more than two thousand people, he felt the gate to the Sword Intent of Killing crack open, while the Styx Blood Grudge Incense gathered the valley’s blood mist.

• Li Zhexian killed more than five hundred desperadoes and realized the blood aura on the Azure Lotus Sword was corrupting his mind rather than forming true sword intent.
• Li Zhexian drove the desperadoes toward the valley entrance and continued slaughtering them as Qian Renxue watched without intervening.
• The desperadoes outside the valley fled in terror, while Tang San and Hu Liena watched Li Zhexian’s massacre and feared what he might become.
• Three Masters of Skill Dao wounded Li Zhexian with an arrow and a slash, but he killed all three with one sword stroke each.
• After killing more than two thousand people, Li Zhexian felt the gate to the Sword Intent of Killing crack open.
• The Styx Blood Grudge Incense drew the valley’s blood mist into the sky as the murky liquid in its vessel became clearer and more translucent.

Li Zhexian completed the Sixth Form of Azure Lotus Sword Song, Blood Futu, after Old Scarface poisoned him and provoked his killing intent. He annihilated the attackers in the valley, then reunited with Qian Renxue as she tearfully cleaned the blood from his face.

• Li Zhexian hesitated when Old Scarface begged for his life and showed him a wooden chip carved with his daughter’s image, but Old Scarface stabbed him with a Dark Blue Poison Dart.
• Qian Renxue rushed to protect Li Zhexian as he awakened his killing intent and completed Blood Futu.
• Li Zhexian’s sword intent killed Old Scarface and cut down the remaining desperadoes beyond the valley.
• Tang San and Hu Liena fled, with Tang San fearing Li Zhexian had taken a grudge against him and Hu Liena deciding to question Qian Renxue.
• Li Zhexian retrieved Old Scarface’s wooden chip and told Qian Renxue that the wine was ready and he had comprehended the sword.
• Qian Renxue wiped the blood from Li Zhexian’s face and told him he was the best.

The King of Slaughter learned that Blood Butcher Sword had won nearly forty matches and helped kill more than three thousand people, but ordered the Black-Veiled Woman to keep watching him. As the City of Slaughter braced for successors chosen by two Gods of Slaughter, Asura and Ji Dong disputed which godhood Li Zhexian would inherit.

• The Black-Veiled Woman reported Blood Butcher Sword’s victories, the massacre in the Inner City East District, and his powerful sword technique to the King of Slaughter.
• The King of Slaughter forbade her from interfering and revealed that two Gods of Slaughter had sent successors to the City of Slaughter alongside the Angel and Blood Butcher Sword.
• The King of Slaughter punished the Black-Veiled Woman for questioning him, then descended into the Sea of Blood beneath the mountain.
• Asura thanked Ji Dong for finding him a successor, but Ji Dong refused to yield Li Zhexian to Asura.
• Asura argued that Li Zhexian’s Killing Sword Intent made him suited to inherit the Asura Godhood, while Ji Dong wagered that Li Zhexian would not abandon his own sword for Asura’s Divine Sword.

Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue shared Styx Blood Grudge Incense, a rare Immortal Brew that replenished vitality and blood and began evolving Li Zhexian’s Three-Phase Spirit Vein Body. As the wine’s effects intensified, both of them became flushed and overwhelmed by surging vitality.

• Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue prepared dinner together, and Qian Renxue used Light Soul Power to make flowers bloom on the courtyard’s withered tree.
• Li Zhexian brought out Styx Blood Grudge Incense and explained that it could forge a Vitality Treasure Body, strengthen the body, and speed recovery.
• Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue drank the wine together, causing their vitality and blood to surge.
• Li Zhexian’s Three-Phase Spirit Vein Body evolved again, gaining greater physical strength and powerful healing ability.
• The wine’s effects continued to intensify, leaving Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue flushed and breathing heavily as they looked toward each other.

Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue confessed their love, then fought their way to ninety-nine victories each in the City of Slaughter while remaining committed to bringing Zhu Qing back. As they waited for their final battles, Qian Renxue caught Hu Liena following her and attacked her in an alley.

• Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue kissed, and Li Zhexian told her he had not acted on impulse.
• Li Zhexian admitted he could not betray Zhu Qing, and Qian Renxue agreed they would survive Hell Road and bring Zhu Qing back.
• Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue fought together in the Hell Slaughter Arena, reaching ninety-nine consecutive victories each.
• Demon Fox and Asura Hammer gained fame as candidates to become Hundred Battles King.
• Hu Liena followed Qian Renxue into an alley, where Qian Renxue slammed her against a wall and grabbed her throat.

Qian Renxue rejected Hu Liena’s offer to cooperate and left after Hu Liena guessed that Blood Butcher Sword was Li Zhexian. Months later, Li Zhexian and three other Seeds began their simultaneous hundredth matches, and his fight opened with a sweeping crimson sword strike.

• Qian Renxue seized Hu Liena by the throat, then released her and refused to cooperate, saying only Blood Butcher Sword was her companion.
• Hu Liena asked whether Blood Butcher Sword was Li Zhexian, but Qian Renxue left without answering.
• Li Zhexian told Qian Renxue that Feng Bailong and Chen Xin were still ahead of him in swordsmanship, though he had glimpsed the threshold of the Fifth Realm.
• After six more months, Demon Fox and Asura Hammer joined Li Zhexian and Angel at ninety-nine victories, and all four began their final matches at once.
• Li Zhexian entered his arena before nine opponents and unleashed a crimson sword light across the platform.

After Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue reached one hundred consecutive victories, the King of Slaughter appeared and offered the four Hundred Battles Kings the title of God of Slaughter. Li Zhexian realized he had to refuse because he still needed to enter Hell Road to find the Yellow Springs Dew.

• Li Zhexian killed nine Fallen Ones and reflected on the lives he had taken while preparing to seek the Yellow Springs Dew before his five-year deadline.
• Qian Renxue joined Li Zhexian, and they stood back to back as Tang San and Hu Liena appeared in the arena.
• The Purple Moon became a Scarlet Giant Eye, and a swarm of bats gathered into the towering King of Slaughter.
• The King of Slaughter welcomed the crowd's Bloody Mary frenzy and praised the four fighters for becoming Hundred Battles Kings.
• The King of Slaughter offered Li Zhexian, Qian Renxue, Tang San, and Hu Liena the title of God of Slaughter and permission to leave the City of Slaughter.
• Li Zhexian understood that accepting would keep him from Hell Road, where he needed to find the Yellow Springs Dew.

The King of Slaughter offered Li Zhexian, Qian Renxue, Hu Liena, and Tang San the title of God of Slaughter to keep them from gaining Divine Slaughter's Domain, but they insisted on entering Hell Road. After Li Zhexian gravely wounded Tang San, the arena sent all four into Hell Road, where Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue found themselves before a precarious bridge over a river of blood.

• The King of Slaughter offered the four the title of God of Slaughter and warned that only the first team through Hell Road would gain Divine Slaughter's Domain.
• Li Zhexian, Qian Renxue, Hu Liena, and Tang San refused the offer and chose to enter Hell Road in pairs.
• Tang San urged Hu Liena to join forces with him, but Li Zhexian attacked Tang San while Qian Renxue moved against Hu Liena.
• Li Zhexian overpowered Tang San, breaking his defenses and leaving him bleeding in the arena.
• Scarlet light enveloped Li Zhexian, Qian Renxue, Hu Liena, and Tang San and transported them into Hell Road; the King of Slaughter wondered why Li Zhexian's blood seemed familiar.
• Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue arrived before a swaying suspension bridge over a river of blood and recognized the Bridge of Helplessness and the Shore Flowers.

Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue crossed the blood river suspension bridge and discovered the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent instead of the expected first trial. Li Zhexian unleashed his sixth sword form, Blood Futu, against the serpent’s attack.

• Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue crossed the unstable bridge together, fighting off creatures that leaped from the blood river.
• Near the bridge’s end, Li Zhexian sensed danger and stabbed the solid ground, revealing that it was the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent.
• Li Zhexian realized the Hell Road trials had changed and decided to kill the serpent before Tang San and Hu Liena could claim Divine Slaughter’s Domain.
• Qian Renxue carried Li Zhexian into the air as the serpent attacked with its massive tail.
• Li Zhexian gathered the blood river’s killing energy into his Azure Lotus Sword and unleashed Azure Lotus Sword Song’s sixth form, Blood Futu, against the serpent’s tail.

Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue defeated the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, collected its Inner Core and the Yellow Springs Dew, and entered the Light Curtain. The killing intent they had accumulated surged into Divine Slaughter’s Domain, leaving Li Zhexian trapped in a Blood-Colored World before a towering armored figure.

• Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue dodged the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent’s attacks and struck its head together with their swords.
• The Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent exploded, and Li Zhexian collected its Inner Core.
• Li Zhexian gathered the Yellow Springs Dew, then he and Qian Renxue passed through the Light Curtain hand in hand.
• Their accumulated killing intent erupted and condensed into ring-shaped domains that entered their brows.
• Qian Renxue’s Light Soul Power eased the effect on her, while Li Zhexian lost consciousness and found himself facing a towering figure in dark blood armor.

Li Zhexian rejected the Asura God's offer of inheritance because it would require him to abandon his feelings and sword. He and Qian Renxue left the City of Slaughter together, while the Asura God continued to watch him and Ji Dong explained the difficult conditions for creating a new divine seat.

• The Asura God offered Li Zhexian the Asura inheritance and claimed that emotions were shackles, but Li Zhexian asked whether he would have to sever his feelings.
• Ji Dong told the Asura God that Li Zhexian valued his loved ones and sword more than a divine seat, while the Asura God argued that power and eternity were worth more than emotion.
• The Asura God offered Li Zhexian a divine sword, but Li Zhexian summoned the Azure Lotus Sword and refused to surrender either his sword or his feelings.
• The Asura God left while saying he would continue watching Li Zhexian, and Ji Dong explained that creating a divine seat required God King approval, a sufficiently high realm, and immense faith.
• Li Zhexian regained consciousness, reassured the anxious Qian Renxue, and held her hand as they stepped through the Light Curtain and returned to sunlight.

After escaping the City of Slaughter, Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue shared a quiet night by a river and admitted their feelings, with Li Zhexian confessing that he had always known she was Xue Qinghe. Qian Renxue returned to the Worship Hall, while Li Zhexian set out for the Star Dou Great Forest before their Five Year Agreement.

• Li Zhexian and Qian Renxue returned from the City of Slaughter and cooked fish together by a riverbank.
• Qian Renxue confronted Li Zhexian about the gifts on Xue Qinghe's desk and asked whether he had known her identity all along.
• Li Zhexian admitted that he had known Qian Renxue was Xue Qinghe, and they kissed and mourned the year they could have spent together as lovers.
• Qian Renxue left for the Worship Hall to reassure the elders and cleanse her killing intent, promising to meet Li Zhexian in Heaven Dou City in two months.
• Li Zhexian headed for the Star Dou Great Forest to check on Zhu Zhuqing and warn Xiao Wu, Da Ming, and Er Ming.
• At a border town in the Star Luo Empire, an old man in blue robes urged a middle-aged Spirit Master to return to Heaven Dou after nearly five years away.

As the five-year agreement approached, Li Zhexian’s friends set out from across the land for Heaven Dou City, while those already there prepared to reunite with him. Li Zhexian entered the Star Dou Great Forest, where the Sky Azure Bull Python sensed his killing intent.

• Shui Bing'er led the Skywater Team toward Heaven Dou City to honor Li Zhexian’s five-year agreement.
• Oscar left Ice Fortress to return home and find Ji, while Huo Wu and Feng Xiaotian prepared to travel to Heaven Dou City.
• Feng Buyu gathered Wind Sword Sect disciples to join the agreement, and Chen Xin invited Ning Rongrong to accompany him to test Li Zhexian’s sword.
• Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Yu Tianheng, and the others at Huangdou Academy discussed Li Zhexian’s imminent arrival and planned to welcome him.
• Li Zhexian reached the Star Dou Great Forest and hurried toward its depths, drawing the attention of the Sky Azure Bull Python.

Li Zhexian returned to Star Dou and reunited with Xiao Wu before visiting the sleeping Zhu Zhuqing at the Lake of Life. After spending two days telling Zhu Zhuqing about his travels, he left to meet his friends and warned Da Ming and Er Ming about Spirit Hall’s planned hunt for Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

• Xiao Wu and the two giant beasts sensed Li Zhexian’s arrival, and Di Tian wondered how the Auspicious Beast’s aura could accompany a human.
• Xiao Wu and Er Ming welcomed Li Zhexian into Star Dou, where he explained that he had returned from the City of Slaughter and had only Deity’s Blood left to find.
• Li Zhexian sat beside the sleeping Zhu Zhuqing for two days and two nights, telling her about his hardships and promising to return.
• Li Zhexian gave Xiao Wu gifts, thanked her for caring for Zhu Zhuqing, and warned Da Ming and Er Ming that Spirit Hall would hunt Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
• After Li Zhexian left, Da Ming and Er Ming examined the gifts he had left them, including crystals and an iron ring.

Li Zhexian returned to Heaven Dou City after five years away and reunited with Dugu Bo, who told him that Spirit Hall’s conflict with the empires was worsening. Li Zhexian gave Dugu Bo a Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent Inner Core, leaving Dugu Bo eager to grow strong enough to compete in the Heavenly Ridge Martial Arts Gathering.

• Li Zhexian arrived at Dugu Manor and greeted Dugu Bo, who joyfully recognized him.
• Li Zhexian and Dugu Bo shared wine on the roof as Li Zhexian recounted his five years of wandering.
• Dugu Bo explained that Spirit Hall was expanding its territory and that Bibi Dong might proclaim herself emperor.
• Dugu Bo credited his improved poison arts and level ninety-two cultivation to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eye and Li Zhexian’s guidance.
• Li Zhexian gave Dugu Bo the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent Inner Core and advised him to let Miss Dugu absorb the energy that spilled out.
• Dugu Bo accepted the core and vowed to prove himself at the Heavenly Ridge Martial Arts Gathering.

Li Zhexian returned to Heaven Dou City after five years away and visited his old home before heading to Huangdou Academy. There, he found Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and the others struggling to make freshmen train, just as the students began telling stories about him.

• Li Zhexian said goodbye to Dugu Bo, who noted that Dugu Yan had missed him during his five-year absence.
• Li Zhexian entered his well-kept home in Heaven Dou and spent the night there before setting out the next morning.
• Li Zhexian wandered through the city, bought sugar figures and steamed buns, then slipped into Huangdou Academy with sword qi.
• Yu Tianheng and the other graduates scolded freshmen who had given up on training, but the students argued that Senior Sword Wine had succeeded without attending the academy.
• Dugu Yan cracked her whip to force the freshmen back to training, just as Li Zhexian's amused voice came from the Training Ground entrance.

Li Zhexian returned to Heaven Dou after five years and reunited with his friends, then visited Bai Baoshan’s grave and celebrated at Shanxiangfang. After his return stirred the city, he spent several days with his old companions and prepared to meet other friends the next morning.

• Li Zhexian surprised Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Yu Tianheng, Yufeng, Osler, and the others at the Training Ground, where the new students recognized him as Senior Sword Wine.
• Li Zhexian told the students not to squander their chance to study at the academy, then took his friends to visit Bai Baoshan’s grave and offered him wines from his travels.
• At Shanxiangfang, the shop assistant recognized Li Zhexian and cried out “Master” as Li Zhexian ordered food and wine for his friends.
• News of Li Zhexian’s return spread throughout Heaven Dou City, and he declined invitations from influential figures while spending several days drinking and traveling with his old companions.
• The night before a planned reunion with his friends, Li Zhexian gathered plums and sorted his wines, then stood outside Shanxiangfang at dawn.

Huo Wushuang, Huo Wu, and the Blazing Fire members arrived at Shanxiangfang to fulfill their Five Year Agreement with Li Zhexian, who had returned safely from the Far North and the City of Slaughter. Their reunion turned playful as Huo Wu chased Li Zhexian, while Feng Buyu and Xiaotian raced toward the restaurant.

• Huo Wushuang, Huo Wu, and the Blazing Fire group entered Heaven Dou City and worried whether Li Zhexian had survived his journeys.
• Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu found Li Zhexian outside Shanxiangfang and announced that they had come to fulfill the Five Year Agreement.
• Li Zhexian welcomed the Blazing Fire members and gave Huo Wu the plums she had requested, teasing her about the withered tree in his courtyard.
• Huo Wu playfully chased Li Zhexian as he used sword qi to evade her, while Huo Wushuang and the others watched happily.
• Feng Buyu and Xiaotian raced toward Shanxiangfang, challenging each other to see who would arrive first.

Li Zhexian reunited with old friends in Heaven Dou City for the Five Year Agreement, while Qian Renxue joined the gathering. At the same time, Platinum Bishop Salas received orders from the Pope to probe Li Zhexian’s strength and was shaken by the task.

• Feng Xiaotian, Feng Buyu, Yu Tianheng, Ning Rongrong, Shui Bing'er, Oscar, and others arrived to reunite with Li Zhexian at Shanxiangfang.
• Chen Xin encouraged Ning Rongrong to approach Li Zhexian, and the two exchanged a cautious greeting after five years apart.
• Shui Bing'er announced that the Skywater Team had come to fulfill the Five Year Agreement, and Li Zhexian welcomed Oscar into the gathering as a friend.
• Li Zhexian asked Yu Tianheng and Feng Buyu to receive the guests while he went to meet Qian Renxue, who joked that she would pay for his wine.
• Salas learned that the Pope had ordered him to lead Heaven Dou City's Spirit Hall followers in probing Li Zhexian's strength, and he was stunned by the assignment.