Chapter Summaries

Xiao Lingyue fought Shang Qingmeng in the final sword match between Unrivaled Palace and Sword Heart Studio, impressing her opponent with her swordsmanship. The duel ended in a draw when the small grotto-heaven could not withstand their full power, and Xiao Lingyue left eager to meet Shang Qingmeng again.

• Shang Qingmeng intimidated Unrivaled Palace after Ziping's defeat, and Xiang Yuan sent Daoxue to face her before Xiao Lingyue.
• Shang Qingmeng defeated Daoxue in three strikes, and Xiao Lingyue stepped forward for the deciding match.
• Xiao Lingyue and Shang Qingmeng traded powerful sword attacks until Xiao Lingyue's sword broke and she summoned the Unextinguished Sun Wheel.
• Xiao Lingyue and Shang Qingmeng agreed to call the match a draw and arrange another duel because the small grotto-heaven limited their power.
• Xiao Lingyue told Xiang Yuan she wanted to visit Shang Qingmeng and spar with her, while Xiang Yuan imagined helping them meet again.

Xiang Yuan refined the Underworld River Ancient Road’s great medicine with Bai Wuyan’s help, then returned to Xiao Lingyue and helped her cultivate. Cheng Yuling arrived with news that the Emperor and every imperial heir were dead, leaving Xiao Lingyue’s father’s fate uncertain.

• Xiang Yuan told Bai Wuyan that Xiao Lingyue and Shang Qingmeng had drawn in the sword competition, and Bai Wuyan took him to the Underworld River Ancient Road to refine its great medicine and earth and fire elemental veins.
• Bai Wuyan used a Reincarnation Relic to suppress the ancient resentment, and Xiang Yuan spent three days refining the red river’s medicinal energy before returning with her to Unrivaled Palace.
• Xiang Yuan secretly entered Xiao Lingyue’s courtyard and helped her cultivate for several days, hiding in her wardrobe when Cheng Yuling came knocking.
• Cheng Yuling told Xiao Lingyue that the Emperor and every imperial-clan member who could inherit the throne had died, and that her father’s situation was uncertain.

After learning that the emperor and more than a hundred Xiao Clan heirs had mysteriously fallen into soul-less comas, Xiang Yuan went to Shendu to investigate. He inspected the imperial family in an underground ice palace and asked Xiao Feng whether the emperor could be saved or the culprit identified.

• Cheng Yuling caught Xiang Yuan hiding in Xiao Lingyue's wardrobe, scolded them, and learned they claimed to be betrothed.
• Cheng Yuling showed Xiao Lingyue and Xiang Yuan a letter reporting that the emperor and every eligible imperial heir had died, leaving Xiao Yan exposed to rumors about claiming the throne.
• Xiao Lingyue set off for Zhendian Prefecture to protect Xiao Yan, while Xiang Yuan traveled to Shendu to investigate the deaths.
• Xiang Yuan pressed Xiao Feng for answers, and Xiao Feng admitted that the victims' Primordial Spirits had vanished or perished overnight.
• Xiao Feng and Xiao Ling led Xiang Yuan to an ice palace, where he saw over a hundred comatose Xiao Clan members, including the emperor, whose star lamps had all gone out.
• Xiang Yuan asked whether the emperor could be saved and whether the Xiao Clan had identified the culprit, and Xiao Feng said he had an idea.

Xiang Yuan investigated the assassination of Western Chu’s imperial clan, learned that the mastermind had used the Book of Life and Death, and obtained a method to protect Xiao Yan through the Three Yin Book of Life and Death. He headed toward Northern Qi’s capital to seek help from his junior brother before going to Yellow Springs Dao.

• Xiao Feng and Xiao Ling told Xiang Yuan that the Xiao Clan planned to summon the princes and let the most capable claim the throne, while Xiang Yuan warned that Xiao Yan’s powerful connections would make him a likely successor and a target.
• Xiang Yuan asked Bai Wuyan to divine the mastermind’s identity and assassination method; she failed to identify the culprit but suffered backlash while looking east toward Southern Jin.
• Xiang Yuan visited True Heart Dao and retrieved the brocade pouch that Que Xin had left for him, which revealed that the Book of Life and Death was involved in the deaths of the imperial clan.
• The slip changed its message to the Three Yin Book of Life and Death and explained that Xiang Yuan could protect Xiao Yan by using the Life-Death Reincarnation Curse on him alone.
• Xiang Yuan set out for Yellow Springs Dao, then changed course to visit his junior brother in Northern Qi’s capital and ask him not to attack Western Chu.

Xiang Yuan warned Liu Che that the Liu Clan faced the same supernatural danger that had destroyed the Xiao imperial clan and negotiated Northern Qi’s restraint in exchange for protecting the Liu family. He then went to Yellow Springs Dao, where he promised not to involve the sect in the succession struggle but immediately set out to help King Zhao Residence.

• Xiang Yuan met Liu Che at the Imperial Palace, used a rebellious poem to establish that he was speaking as Liu Che’s Senior Brother, and warned him against exploiting Western Chu’s collapse.
• Xiang Yuan showed Liu Che the message about the Book of Life and Death and offered to protect the Liu Clan’s souls; Liu Che agreed to keep Northern Qi from major action for three months in exchange for owing Xiang Yuan a favor.
• Xiang Yuan traveled to Yellow Springs Dao and received an invitation from King Jing Xiao Ning, who wanted to win the sect’s support.
• Zuo Lengxie told Xiang Yuan that Yellow Springs Dao would stay out of court affairs and asked him not to endanger the sect through his ties to King Zhao Residence.
• Xiang Yuan promised not to act in Yellow Springs Dao’s name, then said he would borrow a treasure from the Holy Maiden to help King Zhao Residence in the contest for the throne.

Xiang Yuan borrowed Chan’er’s Ancient Mirror of Reincarnation to help protect Liu Che from the Book of Life and Death, then traveled with her to Shendu Ice Palace to examine the dead Xiao Clan royals. The mirror confirmed that their souls were gone, and Xiang Yuan left with Chan’er for King Zhao Residence to try to save Xiao Lingyue’s family.

• Xiang Yuan told Chan’er that the Book of Life and Death threatened Xiao Lingyue’s family, and she insisted on bringing the Ancient Mirror of Reincarnation to help save them.
• Chan’er accompanied Xiang Yuan to Northern Qi, where she used the mirror while Xiang Yuan cast the Life-Death Reincarnation Curse on Liu Che to protect him from the Book of Life and Death.
• Xiang Yuan and Chan’er traveled to Shendu Ice Palace, where Chan’er used the mirror to confirm that the Xiao Clan emperor and princes had lost their Primordial Spirits and could not be revived.
• Xiang Yuan told Xiao Feng and Xiao Ling about the suspected limits of the Book of Life and Death, Liu Che’s three-month border truce, and the need to investigate Xiao Ning.
• Xiang Yuan and Chan’er left for King Zhao Residence, where Chan’er eagerly planned to rescue Xiao Lingyue’s entire family.

Xiang Yuan brought Chan'er and the Ancient Mirror of Reincarnation to King Zhao Residence, where he cast the Life-Death Reincarnation Curse on Xiao Yan to break the Book of Life and Death's curse. After treating the Southern Jin emperor and returning, he tried to send Chan'er back to Yellow Springs Dao, but she stayed at the residence as Xiao Lingyue dealt with her mother, Cheng Yuling.

• Xiang Yuan explained the Book of Life and Death curse and its remedy to Xiao Lingyue, while Chan'er provoked her and demanded tea.
• Xiao Lingyue led Xiang Yuan and Chan'er to Xiao Yan, and Xiang Yuan used the Ancient Mirror of Reincarnation to curse him three times and lift the threat to his life.
• Xiang Yuan placed a spatial restriction around Xiao Yan's room for protection, then went to Southern Jin and offered the emperor the curse-breaking method; the emperor chose three princes for the ritual, and Xiang Yuan collected a large fee.
• Xiang Yuan returned to King Zhao Residence with Chan'er, where Cheng Yuling confronted them over Chan'er and the Silver Moon Gauze; Xiao Lingyue whisked her mother away before she learned too much.
• Xiao Lingyue explained the situation to Cheng Yuling, who focused on why Chan'er was wearing her master's Silver Moon Gauze, while Chan'er refused to return to Yellow Springs Dao.

Xiao Lingyue and Chan'er fought over Xiang Yuan, who emerged from cultivation and later discussed the political factions forming in King Zhao Residence. As Xiao Lingyue and Xiang Yuan concealed themselves from Xiao Lingyan and Chen Qiaofeng, Great Awakening Temple's Lingxiu arrived to meet Xiao Yan and recognized Xiang Yuan.

• Xiao Lingyue told Cheng Yuling that Xiang Yuan was Xiang Wentian, the Left Envoy of Yellow Springs, and recounted how she had helped bring him and Chan'er together.
• Chan'er summoned Jinse's six-life body to provoke Xiao Lingyue, then demanded that Xiao Lingyue honor her debt; their quarrel turned into a brawl before Xiang Yuan ended his meditation and declared it was his turn.
• The next morning, Chan'er fled to Yellow Springs Dao to enter seclusion, while Xiang Yuan revealed that he had reached Nether Communion and discussed the power struggle among Xiao Yan's adopted sons with Xiao Lingyue.
• Xiao Lingyue sent Xiao Lingyan away from her courtyard and concealed herself and Xiang Yuan when Chen Qiaofeng came looking for them.
• Xiang Yuan sensed Great Awakening Temple's Lingxiu approaching Xiao Yan, recognized him, and heard Lingxiu call him a fated one.

Xiao Dong brought the Great Awakening Temple monk Lingxiu to the King Zhao Residence, where Lingxiu became Xiao Yan’s ninety-ninth adopted son and pledged the temple’s support. Xiang Yuan and Lingxiu later secretly exchanged notes about their true motives, but each accused the other of lying.

• Xiao Dong escorted Lingxiu through the residence’s spatial restriction, and Lingxiu revealed that a Nether Communion cultivator had protected the King Zhao Residence.
• Lingxiu met Xiao Yan and Xiao Qian, offering Great Awakening Temple’s support in exchange for permission to spread Buddhism throughout Western Chu.
• Xiao Qian urged Xiao Yan to accept Lingxiu as his ninety-ninth son, and Lingxiu joined the family as Xiao Yan’s adopted son.
• Xiao Yan and Xiao Qian discussed the upheaval in Western Chu and agreed that Xiao Yan should seek help from Xiang Yuan and his connections.
• Xiang Yuan visited Lingxiu and proposed exchanging their secrets; their notes named Guanyin Bodhisattva and spreading the sutras across the world, leaving both convinced the other had lied.

Xiang Yuan and the princes’ entourages gathered at Perching Cloud Palace to discuss the succession, while the three Heavenly Sects’ support for King Le raised suspicions. A Heavenly Saber Sect grandmaster exposed Lingxiu as Northern Qi’s Liu Xiu and Xiang Yuan as a True Heart Dao successor, leaving Xiang Yuan to deny the accusation and point toward another hidden successor.

• Xiang Yuan suspected Great Awakening Temple’s abbot Huixing of being the mastermind, then accompanied Xiao Yan and Lingxiu to Shendu after Xiao Yin summoned them.
• At Perching Cloud Palace, Xiang Yuan saw White Cloud Manor and Forget Sword Manor supporting King Jing, while the three Heavenly Sects backed King Le alongside Ji Boli.
• Xiao Feng privately concluded that the three Heavenly Sects were behind the turmoil because they had joined forces and supported King Le.
• Qu Rou praised King Jing’s achievements, and Lingxiu challenged King Jing’s paternity rumors and King Le’s alliance with the Heavenly Sects.
• A Heavenly Saber Sect grandmaster revealed that Lingxiu was Liu Che’s son, Liu Xiu, and accused Xiang Yuan of being Northern Qi’s True Heart Dao successor.
• Xiang Yuan denounced the accusation as slander and claimed that one of the three Heavenly Sects had a genuine True Heart Dao successor.

Xiang Yuan and Ji Boli exposed each other as True Heart Dao cultivators, wrecking Xiao Yan and Xiao Lei’s claims to the Western Chu throne and putting Xiao Jia in the lead. After the princes left, Xiang Yuan and Ji Boli confronted each other outside Shendu, then learned that Ji Wuzhou was consolidating the Heavenly Sect and may have arranged for their identities to be revealed.

• Xiang Yuan accused Ji Boli of infiltrating the Heavenly Sect families, and the two argued until Ji Boli was exposed as a True Heart Dao cultivator too.
• Xiao Feng and the other Xiao Clan representatives concluded that Xiao Yan and Xiao Lei had foreign backing, while Xiao Jia became their preferred candidate for the throne.
• Xiao Feng ended the meeting and ordered the four princes to leave Shendu; Xiao Jia and Xiao Yan each resolved to give up, while Xiao Ning’s allies planned to damage the reputations of Xiao Yan and Xiao Lei.
• Lingxiu took Xiao Yan and the others away, and Xiang Yuan and Ji Boli pursued one another to the outskirts of Shendu to argue over who had exposed their identities.
• Ji Boli told Xiang Yuan that Ji Wuzhou had become the Heavenly Saber Sect’s sect master and was consolidating the Heavenly Sect, then suggested that Ji Wuzhou had caused their identities to be revealed.

Xiang Yuan investigated Ji Wuzhou’s sudden rise and the Xiao Clan’s plans for the imperial succession, finding both bound up in suspicions about a hidden mastermind. After warning the Xiao Clan and making a stop in Zhendian Prefecture, he headed to Mahayana Mountain to confront Master Broken Sampan.

• Xiang Yuan and Ji Boli discussed whether Ji Wuzhou had inherited the Dragon-Locking Evil Array and the Book of Life and Death, then Ji Boli recounted how Ji Wuzhou had taken control of the three Heavenly Sects.
• Ji Boli decided to go watch Liu Pojun face consequences for gossiping about True Heart Dao, while Xiang Yuan shifted to Shendu to question the Xiao Clan.
• Xiao Feng told Xiang Yuan that the Xiao Clan had rejected Xiao Yan, Xiao Lei, and Xiao Jia as candidates and planned to wait for rival forces to weaken before intervening.
• Xiang Yuan warned Xiao Feng that the princes, the Heavenly Sect families, White Cloud Manor, and Forget Sword Manor all looked suspicious, but Xiao Feng said the clan could not identify the mastermind.
• Xiang Yuan traveled through Zhendian Prefecture and then set off for Mahayana Mountain to visit Master Broken Sampan.

Xiang Yuan entered Mahayana Mountain under Feng Wenshu’s identity to investigate Ji Wuzhou and the newly unified Heavenly Sect. After impressing the Sword Master Mingxia and the Nirvana Sword Master, he asked for an honorary elder position and urged them to meet the Sect Master before the Heavenly Martial faction claimed the remaining posts.

• Xiang Yuan learned that Mahayana Mountain was being rebuilt and entered through the main gate using transfer orders obtained under Feng Wenshu’s identity.
• A disciple guided Xiang Yuan through Mahayana Mountain and described its forbidden areas, including the Body Cleansing Pool.
• The Sword Master Mingxia and the Nirvana Sword Master received Xiang Yuan, and he redirected Mingxia’s sword petals toward the Nirvana Sword Master to demonstrate his skill.
• Mingxia explained that only she and the Nirvana Sword Master had returned from the Heavenly Sword Pavilion’s five branches, while the Sky Chasm Swordmaster and Formless Sword Master were absent.
• Xiang Yuan asked Mingxia to seek an honorary elder position for him and the Feng Clan, then urged her to go see Ji Wuzhou before the Heavenly Martial faction took the remaining posts.

Xiang Yuan entered Mahayana Mountain disguised as Feng Wenshu to meet Ji Wuzhou, but Ji Wuzhou exposed his identity and ordered the Sword Master Mingxia to kill him. As Mingxia and other Heavenly Sect grandmasters revived through the mountain-guarding formation and cornered him, Xiang Yuan prepared to unleash his Three-Headed Six-Armed Dharma Form, only for a lightning tribulation to appear.

• The Sword Master Mingxia led Xiang Yuan to the Great Void Hall and explained the Twelve Dao Pavilions and their rumored immortal opportunities.
• Ji Wuzhou revealed that Feng Wenshu had died three years earlier, exposed Xiang Yuan, and confined him before leaving the hall.
• Xiang Yuan broke Ji Wuzhou’s spatial restriction and struck the Sword Master Mingxia down, but she revived with power from the mountain-guarding grand formation and attacked again.
• Xiang Yuan defeated the Sword Master Mingxia a second time and tried to escape, but the sealed formation blocked spatial travel and she revived again to intercept him.
• Liu Pojun and four other Heavenly Saber Sect grandmasters confronted Xiang Yuan as the formation empowered them, while the Sword Master Mingxia revived once more at Body Integration Realm strength.
• Xiang Yuan decided to unleash his Three-Headed Six-Armed Dharma Form, but an Eye of Thunder opened in the sky and a lightning tribulation began.

Xiang Yuan survived the Heavenly Sect’s mountain-protecting formation and was hurled into an unfamiliar world, where he discovered Xiao He had been trapped for thirty years. He began catching up with his brother-in-law by inventing alarming stories about everything Xiao He had missed.

• The mountain-protecting formation struck Xiang Yuan with simulated five-element lightning, but he survived and seized Sword Master Mingxia and the five other grandmasters as hostages.
• The formation unleashed a Heavenfall Sword Strike that sent Xiang Yuan crashing through a spatial barrier, then restored Mahayana Mountain and revived the six grandmasters.
• Xiang Yuan recovered in an unfamiliar world resembling a weaker version of the Ancient Wilderness Realm and found traces of the six grandmasters nearby.
• Xiang Yuan encountered Xiao He, who said he had been trapped there for thirty years after his undercover mission in Demon King City was exposed.
• Xiang Yuan told Xiao He that their mother had a grandson to dote on, their father had become emperor, and Xiang He was married, leaving Xiao He stunned.

Xiang Yuan reunited with Xiao He in a strange realm, where Xiao He explained how he and Ji Wuzhou had been trapped after investigating the imprisoned master. Xiang Yuan met the real Ji Wuzhou, who identified the realm as Yan Xuanhe’s place of death and believed Xiang Yuan could help them escape.

• Xiang Yuan tricked Xiao He into believing that thirty years had passed and Xiao Lingyue had married him, then revealed it was a lie and endured Xiao He’s retaliatory beating.
• Xiao He explained that he had infiltrated the Heavenly Saber Sect, discovered someone had imprisoned the real Ji Wuzhou, and fallen into the realm with two of Ji Wuzhou’s loyal Grandmasters.
• Xiao He led Xiang Yuan to the genuine Ji Wuzhou, who recognized Xiang Yuan as his disciple and questioned him about the three paintings he had given him.
• Xiang Yuan told Ji Wuzhou that he had learned the paintings and revealed that he was also a disciple of the True Heart Daoist, Heartless Daoist.
• Ji Wuzhou said the realm was where Yan Xuanhe’s Dao had perished and his body had fallen, then declared that Xiang Yuan gave him a way out.

Ji Wuzhou gathered the exiled cultivators and led Xiang Yuan toward the Sky Pillar, explaining that the Heavenly Sect’s grand formation encompassed the Dry Abyss Realm. At the spiritual spring that could return them to Mahayana Mountain, Ji Wuzhou revealed that only Xiang Yuan could destroy it.

• Ji Wuzhou explained that they could escape the realm by erasing Yan Xuanhe’s legacy and disrupting the Heavenly Sect’s grand formation as the world was remade.
• Ji Wuzhou revealed that the formation spanned the Dry Abyss Realm and that the opponent Xiang Yuan had fought was the realm itself, not an ordinary master.
• Ji Wuzhou subdued six Grandmasters, told the exiled cultivators they could leave once the formation was broken, and sent them to pack their belongings.
• Xiang Yuan tried to persuade Xiao He to seek the throne, but Xiao He refused because he did not want to lose his freedom.
• Ji Wuzhou brought Xiang Yuan to the Sky Pillar’s spiritual spring, the source of the Body Cleansing Pool, and said that only Xiang Yuan could destroy it.

Xiang Yuan realized that Ji Wuzhou had once possessed the Celestial Emperor Dao Seed and that another Celestial Emperor reincarnation had imprisoned him in the Dry Abyss Realm. Xiang Yuan used the Dao Seed to break through the realm’s spiritual spring, and he and Ji Wuzhou returned to Mahayana Mountain, where Ji Wuzhou faced the false sect master.

• Ji Wuzhou’s blade failed to damage the two-colored spiritual springs, and Xiang Yuan deduced that only someone connected to the Heavenly Emperor could destroy them.
• Xiang Yuan confronted Ji Wuzhou about the Celestial Emperor Dao Seed and pieced together how Ji Wuzhou had given it to him by chance, setting off a chain of misunderstandings.
• Ji Wuzhou revealed that another Celestial Emperor reincarnation in the east had impersonated Shen Hanyi, defeated him, and imprisoned him; Xiang Yuan connected this figure to Bai Wuyan’s divination about the mastermind.
• Xiang Yuan struck the spiritual spring with Lone Star Chasing Moon, then soaked in it and absorbed its black-and-white power despite Ji Wuzhou’s warnings.
• The spring opened a rift, and Xiang Yuan and Ji Wuzhou returned to Mahayana Mountain’s Body Cleansing Pool; the Sword Master Mingxia arrived, and Xiang Yuan punched her away after she stared at him.
• The real and false sect masters confronted each other as an enormous pair of eyes opened in the sky and Ji Wuzhou’s aura surged.

Ji Wuzhou defeated the hidden mastermind’s controlled puppet Shen Hanyi, reclaimed control of the Heavenly Sect Grand Array, and shared its authority with Xiang Yuan. He explained that the Twelve Dao Pavilions contained Dao Seeds tied to the Heavenly Court, whose history held a deeper meaning he did not know.

• Ji Wuzhou dispersed the tribulation lightning and forced the hidden figure controlling the Heavenly Sect Grand Array to reveal Shen Hanyi as its puppet.
• Ji Wuzhou and Shen Hanyi fought with their saber arts while Xiang Yuan studied their techniques and punched six illusionary grandmasters back to the Dry Abyss Realm.
• Ji Wuzhou destroyed Shen Hanyi and drove the hidden mastermind away, then restored the damaged Dao Inquiry Peak and made the illusory Heavenly Sect cultivators real.
• Ji Wuzhou let the grandmasters return home and shared control of the Heavenly Sect Grand Array with Xiang Yuan.
• Ji Wuzhou told Xiang Yuan that the Twelve Dao Pavilions held Dao Seeds used by Yan Xuanhe to reestablish the Heavenly Court, but he could not explain Yan Xuanhe’s deeper purpose.

Xiang Yuan persuaded Ji Wuzhou to shift the Heavenly Sect’s support to King Zhao Residence and set out to enlist Sword Venerable Su Ran against the Heavenly Emperor’s mastermind. He then took Xiao He to confront Ji Boli, whose divination led Xiang Yuan to ambush him, before bringing Xiao He home and introducing him to Xiao Lingyue.

• Xiang Yuan reviewed the mastermind’s schemes with Ji Wuzhou, then convinced his master to support King Zhao Residence and stage a mock battle to explain the change.
• Ji Wuzhou suggested that Xiang Yuan seek Sword Venerable Su Ran’s help, and Xiang Yuan resolved to visit Sword Heart Studio and recruit her against the mastermind.
• Xiang Yuan explored the Heavenly Sect’s Twelve Dao Pavilions, found that the True Warrior Great Emperor Dao seed rejected him, and took Xiao He to meet Ji Boli.
• Xiang Yuan told Ji Boli that his status as a True Heart Dao successor was now legitimate because Xiang Yuan had become the Heavenly Sect’s young sect master, then learned Ji Boli had skipped Mahayana Mountain after divining a threat to his household.
• Xiang Yuan left Ji Boli on guard for the imagined Old Wang, then used a sword-finger strike to ambush him and hurt his kidney.
• Xiang Yuan brought Xiao He to King Zhao Residence, where Xiao He recognized the home and met his sister, Xiao Lingyue.