Chapter Summaries

Ning Suxin brought Ye Tian into the Heavenly Sword Sect, where he accepted its invitation and asked for a place in the upcoming Heavenly Spirit Secret Realm trial. The Fourth Elder agreed to let Ye Tian compete for a quota ten days later, while secretly plotting to turn the selection against him.

• Ning Suxin warned Ye Tian that joining the declining Heavenly Sword Sect would bind his future to it, but Ye Tian showed his resolve by asking to enter the Heavenly Spirit Secret Realm trial.
• Ning Suxin promised to seek Ye Tian a trial quota and asked him to keep his earlier sword strike confidential.
• The Fourth Elder dismissed Ye Tian as an unimpressive Core Formation cultivator, prompting Ning Suxin to request a trial quota for him.
• The Fourth Elder agreed to include Ye Tian in a selection ten days later and secretly planned to manipulate the rules to make him a target.
• Ning Suxin arranged for Disciple Chang to guide Ye Tian and suggested that he study at the Sword Collection Pavilion.

Ye Tian sought entry to the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Sword Collection Pavilion, where its dangerous sword intent could injure inexperienced cultivators. After Martial Uncle Li sensed Ye Tian’s exceptional sword core and Sword Qi, he approved his entry and offered to bring him out if needed.

• Ye Tian asked Chang Tang to take him to the Sword Collection Pavilion so he could study its sword manuals.
• Chang Tang warned Ye Tian that the pavilion’s sword intent had overwhelmed other disciples, but led him there using several Teleportation Arrays.
• Martial Uncle Li scolded Chang Tang for bringing Ye Tian alone and warned Ye Tian about the danger of entering without guidance.
• Ye Tian insisted he was qualified to enter and released a trace of Sword Qi from the Immortal Slaying Sword Art.
• Martial Uncle Li recognized Ye Tian’s rare sword core, rebuked Chang Tang, and invited Ye Tian into the pavilion while promising to bring him out if necessary.

Ye Tian endured the Sword Collection Pavilion’s killing sword intent for nine days, received a Sword Eye ability from a white-haired swordsman, and learned that it let him see the foundations of others’ sword Dao. As the Heavenly Sword Sect began selecting disciples for Secret Realm Trial slots, Ye Tian focused on competing and sought a way to study the sect’s sword art to curb his inner demon.

• Ye Tian entered the Sword Collection Pavilion and pressed through a sword-intent trial, enduring severe pain as his sword core was tempered.
• Martial Uncle Li recognized Ye Tian’s pure killing aura, protected his cultivation, and guided him toward a white-haired swordsman deep within the pavilion.
• The white-haired swordsman merged a killing aura into Ye Tian’s eyes, granting him the ability to discern the foundations of others’ sword Dao, then sent him out of the pavilion.
• Martial Uncle Li told Ye Tian that nine days had passed and sent Chang Tang to escort him back; Ye Tian tested his new Sword Eye and saw Martial Uncle Li’s sword embryo.
• At the Heavenly Sword Sect’s selection for Secret Realm Trial slots, Ye Tian noticed Ning Suxin’s clear sword heart and resolved to seek the sect’s incomplete sword art to suppress his inner demon.

Ye Tian entered the Heavenly Sword Sect’s trial selection, where the Fourth Elder’s rules forced him to fight for one of four remaining spots. When Group C began, four cultivators ambushed him, but Ye Tian secretly used the Town Yue Turtle Mountain Diagram to block their attacks.

• The Fourth Elder announced that twenty-six Nascent Soul Realm cultivators qualified directly, while the remaining four spots would go to the winners of four Core Formation Stage melees.
• Ye Tian drew Group C, assessed his opponents, and watched the Group A and Group B winners emerge from their battles.
• Ning Suxin cheered Ye Tian on, prompting his six Group C opponents to focus on him after one mocked his cultivation.
• The Fourth Elder secretly signaled one of the cultivators, and four opponents attacked Ye Tian together as the Group C melee began.
• Ye Tian used the Town Yue Turtle Mountain Diagram to block all four sword strikes, then concealed the artifact to make it look as if he had endured them with his body.

Ye Tian won Group C’s trial slot, while Ning Suxing unexpectedly survived Group D and claimed its final slot despite the Heavenly Sword Sect elder’s attempt to provoke Ye Tian into breaking the rules. The elder’s last effort to disqualify Ye Tian failed, and the victors were told to gather at dawn and form teams for the secret realm trial.

• Ye Tian swiftly defeated four Core Formation cultivators in Group C, prompting the two remaining opponents to surrender.
• The Heavenly Sword Sect elder arranged for a cultivator to provoke Ning Suxing and another to ambush him, hoping to force Ye Tian to intervene, but Ning Suxing dodged the attack and won Group D’s final slot.
• A defeated cultivator accused Ye Tian of concealing Nascent Soul cultivation, and the Heavenly Sword Sect elder dismissed him.
• The elder announced that the trial would begin at dawn before the Demon Sealing Tower, with teams of ten led by Nascent Soul cultivators and formed freely.

Ye Tian was invited to join Ning Suxin’s uncle’s team for the Secret Realm Trial, but the group tested whether he deserved a slot. He rejected their assumption that he needed a team and declared he could form one by himself.

• Ning Suxin told Ye Tian that her Nascent Soul Realm uncle had agreed to include him and Ning Suxing on his team.
• Chang Tang delivered food to Ye Tian, then was attacked after revealing Ye Tian’s location to someone outside his room.
• A masked Nascent Soul Realm cultivator attacked Ye Tian, but Ning Suxin arrived and revealed that the attacker was her uncle testing Ye Tian’s mettle.
• Ning Suxin’s uncle introduced the other two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators on his team, who questioned whether Ye Tian deserved to join them.
• Ye Tian told the group he had never asked to be taken along and could form a team by himself.

Ye Tian offered to prove that his Core Formation Stage cultivation did not make him unqualified for Uncle Ning Suxin's team by enduring Li Peng's attack without moving or being injured. He succeeded with the Town Yue Turtle Mountain Diagram, and when Uncle Ning Suxin asked about the treasure, Ye Tian claimed it could only be used once and could not be repaired.

• Ye Tian declined to simply join Uncle Ning Suxin's team and proposed that he could form a team alone, prompting Uncle Ning Suxin to invite him onto his team instead.
• Ye Tian offered to let Li Peng attack him while he stood still with his hands behind his back, and Uncle Ning Suxin agreed to the test.
• Luo Su warned Li Peng about the risk to his reputation, angering Li Peng and making him attack Ye Tian with a powerful Xuantian heavy sword.
• Ye Tian activated the Town Yue Turtle Mountain Diagram, remained unharmed and unmoved, and declared that he conceded after winning by a slight margin.
• Uncle Ning Suxin questioned Ye Tian about the magic treasure, and Ye Tian said it could be used only once and could not be repaired.

As the Heavenly Sword Sect prepared to enter its secret realm, Young Master Jiang of the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect forced his way into the trial and overruled the sect’s traditions. The other disciples entered ahead of Ye Tian’s team, which waited behind after Ye Tian argued that the right moment mattered more than entering early.

• After Ye Tian survived Li Peng’s full-force attack unharmed, Uncle Ning Suxin expected his reputation to spread and waited for the secret realm trial to begin.
• Young Master Jiang Yukun arrived with people from the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect and demanded permission to join the trial, pressuring the Heavenly Sword Sect elders into agreeing.
• Jiang Yukun mocked the Heavenly Sword Sect’s prayer ceremony and insisted on entering at once, so the Great Elder opened the secret realm without the customary rites.
• Before the disciples entered, the Great Elder warned them to avoid Jiang Yukun but to record everything he obtained in the secret realm.
• The disciples entered ahead of Ye Tian and Uncle Ning Suxin’s team, while Ye Tian said that entering at the right moment mattered more than arriving early, and Uncle Ning Suxin accepted his reasoning.

Ye Tian and the Heavenly Sword Sect teams entered the Demon Sealing Tower secret realm while Jiang Yukun’s sect clashed with the Heavenly Sword Sect elders outside. After a Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect elder proposed Ning Suxin as Jiang Yukun’s temporary dual-cultivation companion in exchange for a secret realm entrance, Ning Suxin challenged him to a wager, and he accepted.

• Ye Tian recalled the mysterious man’s request and decided he might help him before leading Uncle Ning Suxin and the others into the secret realm.
• A Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect elder mocked the Heavenly Sword Sect and claimed Jiang Yukun would quickly take all the secret realm’s treasures.
• Ning Suxin revealed herself after the elder proposed that she serve as Jiang Yukun’s dual-cultivation companion in exchange for a Heavenly Spirit Secret Realm entrance.
• A Heavenly Sword Sect elder mocked the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect’s meager bride price for Jiang Yukun’s fiancée, but the elder claimed the two sects could become family.
• Ning Suxin wagered that she would become Jiang Yukun’s dual-cultivation companion if his gains surpassed all three Heavenly Sword Sect teams’ gains, while the elder would otherwise give the promised secret realm entrance to her sect.
• The Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect elder accepted Ning Suxin’s wager.

Ye Tian’s group entered the transformed Heavenly Spirit Secret Realm, where Jiang Yukun’s hidden strength appeared to be causing dangerous changes. After one member vanished and a vast swarm of Fire-Swallowing Moths descended, Ye Tian urged everyone to flee, leaving the group running through the Second Layer.

• Ning Suxin’s uncle led the group through the First Layer, but in the Second Layer he realized the familiar route had changed and they were lost.
• Ye Tian reasoned that Jiang Yukun had concealed his true cultivation and that his entry was causing the secret realm’s severe changes.
• Ning Suxin’s uncle ordered everyone to search for Jiang Yukun, then discovered that one of their ten-person party had disappeared.
• The group formed a sword formation in the mist, which attracted a massive swarm of Fire-Swallowing Moths.
• Ye Tian recognized they could escape in the direction opposite the moths and shouted for everyone to run; Ning Suxin’s uncle and the others followed.

Ye Tian was separated from his group and encountered three impostors disguised as Heavenly Sword Sect disciples, whom he suspected were connected to the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect. After learning they sought a mysterious object of suppression, he pretended to know where it was and led them toward the Fire-Swallowing Moths.

• Ye Tian watched his group scatter, then pursued three auras through the fog and caught up with three Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Ye Tian recognized that the trio were impostors, but pretended to believe their story and claimed he had fallen behind his team.
• The trio questioned Ye Tian about his loyalty to the Heavenly Sword Sect, and he feigned gratitude toward Ning Suxin for accepting him.
• The leading cultivator revealed that the trio wanted an object of suppression that could take them through the outer heavens into the secret realm’s core.
• Ye Tian pretended to recall Ning Suxin’s uncle mentioning the object nearby and offered to lead the trio to where he had encountered the Fire-Swallowing Moths.

Ye Tian lured three disguised Nascent Soul Realm cultivators to a swarm of Fire-Swallowing Moths and escaped while they fought for their lives. He inferred that the trio were seeking a way into the inner secret realm's core, where valuable treasures might await.

• The leading man doubted Ye Tian but agreed to follow him toward the supposed location of the suppressing object.
• Ye Tian led the group to the Fire-Swallowing Moths' territory, where the thin man used a hairpin treasure to sense spiritual energy.
• Ye Tian realized the trio's search was exposing his deception and tried to retreat, but the woman recognized his attempt and attacked him with the leading man.
• Ye Tian protected himself with the Mountain Quaking Turtle Diagram as their attacks drew a swarm of Fire-Swallowing Moths around the three cultivators.
• The thin man warned the others that Ye Tian had tricked them, while Ye Tian fled without using spiritual energy and left them surrounded.
• Ye Tian assessed the trio's roles and concluded they were seeking access to the inner secret realm's core.

Ye Tian encountered the three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators he had trapped among the Fire-Swallowing Moths, now badly wounded and trying to escape. He stopped them and fought them, but the gaunt man unleashed a powerful hairpin attack as the confrontation continued.

• Ye Tian reached a river inhabited by golden longfish and pure-white giant eagles, and realized he had searched in the wrong direction for Heavenly Sword Sect disciples.
• The three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators arrived at the riverbank, recognized Ye Tian, and tried to leave to find Young Master Jiang and treat their eldest brother.
• Ye Tian blocked their way and exchanged attacks with the gaunt man, defending himself with the Town Yue Turtle Mountain Diagram and striking back with the Azure Decision Cloud Piercing Sword.
• The three attempted to flee on a wooden boat, but Ye Tian used Time Stasis to halt it and force them back to the ground.
• The gaunt man ignored the woman's warning and used his hairpin to summon burning meteorites against Ye Tian.

Ye Tian defeated three injured cultivators from the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect and captured them after their attempt to turn the river beasts against him failed. As he dragged them upstream, their reactions hinted that they had come to seize the secret realm and that the riverbank might hold their way out.

• Ye Tian’s sword broke through the gaunt man’s Heavenly Meteor Fall Stones, and the woman identified his Time Stasis ability.
• The gaunt man formed the Golden Saber Three-Ring Formation, but Ye Tian empowered his sword with killing aura and broke through it, exposing the hairpin magic treasure.
• The woman struck while Ye Tian tried to seize the hairpin, forcing him to retreat, then used a crimson sword to provoke the giant eagles and golden longfish.
• The river beasts ignored the cultivators, so Ye Tian used Time Stasis to subdue all three, seized the hairpin, and broke the woman’s arms.
• Ye Tian bound the captives and questioned them as he walked upstream, reading their reactions as clues about their plan to seize the secret realm and their reason for coming to the river.

Ye Tian rejected the woman’s offer to join the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect and threatened her and the skinny man with the Soul Searching Technique until she confessed their plan to seize the Heavenly Spirit Secret Realm. Her revelations identified Sun Fulu as the insider who helped them enter, while Jiang Yukun remained somewhere upstream.

• Ye Tian sealed the three captured cultivators’ spiritual energy acupoints and questioned the woman about the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect’s plans.
• The woman offered Ye Tian a place among the sect’s future elders, but he refused to be tempted and demanded a full account of their scheme.
• Ye Tian threatened to use the Soul Searching Technique, and the woman’s resolve broke as she agreed to tell him everything.
• The woman explained that the suppressing object could open a hidden way into the secret realm’s core, where they planned to redirect the entrance into the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect’s territory.
• The woman revealed that only Jiang Yukun and the three of them had entered from the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect, with Sun Fulu’s help.
• Ye Tian learned that Sun Fulu was the Heavenly Sword Sect insider and that no other insiders were in the secret realm.

Ye Tian learned that Jiang Yukun relied on several ancient magical treasures, then followed the captives upstream to find him fighting Heavenly Sword Sect disciples. He watched Jiang Yukun overpower three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators and searched the prisoners, but did not see Ning Suxin among them.

• Ye Tian used the Soul Searching Technique to learn that Jiang Yukun was at peak Core Formation Stage and carried three ancient magical treasures that could raise his strength, protect him, or open an exit from the secret realm.
• Ye Tian kept the three Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect captives alive and followed the hairpin's spiritual energy traces upstream toward Jiang Yukun.
• Ye Tian reached a cliffside battlefield and hid with the captives while Jiang Yukun fought Li Peng, Luo Su, and another Heavenly Sword Sect disciple.
• Li Peng, Luo Su, and the third disciple attacked Jiang Yukun together, but his Qianyuan Spirit Light Shield withstood their strongest assault.
• Jiang Yukun mocked the Heavenly Sword Sect and claimed he had captured nineteen of its Nascent Soul Realm cultivators; Ye Tian checked the prisoners but did not find Ning Suxin.

Jiang Yukun used the Spirit Binding Curse and his magical treasures to capture more Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators, leaving Luo Su as the only one still fighting. As Jiang Yukun seized Luo Su by the throat, Ye Tian learned that the Eternal Jade Pendant did not weaken with each battle, but only each time its remnant soul was summoned.

• Ye Tian realized Jiang Yukun had used the secret-realm gains as a pretext to control the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples while his allies searched for the pocket world's suppressive artifact and altered the inner-core entrance formation.
• Jiang Yukun exploited Li Peng's hesitation and bound him with the Spirit Binding Curse.
• Luo Su attacked Jiang Yukun at close range, but Jiang Yukun used a feigned opening and the Qianyuan Spirit Light Shield to capture another Heavenly Sword Sect cultivator, bringing his total to twenty-one.
• Jiang Yukun vanished around Luo Su and seized him by the throat, suppressing his resistance with spiritual energy.
• Ye Tian questioned the woman about the Eternal Jade Pendant, and she explained that it weakened only when Jiang Yukun summoned the sword attendant's remnant soul before shouting for him to save her.

Ye Tian used the captured Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect cultivators to bluff Jiang Yukun and proposed exchanging them for the Heavenly Sword Sect prisoners. Jiang Yukun suspected the bluff and tested Ye Tian, shifting the stalemate toward a direct confrontation.

• One of the captured women broke Ye Tian’s seal and warned Jiang Yukun, exposing Ye Tian and the three prisoners.
• Ye Tian revealed the captives and claimed he had uncovered Jiang Yukun’s plans, while Luo Su escaped Jiang Yukun’s grasp.
• Luo Su joined Ye Tian’s act, and Jiang Yukun struggled to determine whether Ye Tian had truly defeated three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.
• Ye Tian knocked the three captives unconscious to prevent them from warning Jiang Yukun again.
• Ye Tian offered to return the three captives in exchange for Jiang Yukun lifting the Spirit Binding Curse on twenty-one Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators.
• Jiang Yukun rejected the exchange as unfavorable and stepped toward Ye Tian, directing his spiritual pressure at him to test his strength.

Ye Tian outmaneuvered Jiang Yukun in a negotiation over captured Heavenly Sword Sect disciples, using his knowledge of the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect’s secret plans to force concessions. Jiang Yukun nearly exposed Ye Tian’s ruse, but Ye Tian pointed out that the Earth Escape Lock let Jiang Yukun escape with the returned captives and avoid blame, leaving him speechless.

• Jiang Yukun tried to probe Ye Tian’s strength, but Ye Tian’s composure made him retreat and resume negotiating over the captives.
• Ye Tian revealed that he knew about the suppressing artifact and the secret realm’s inner core formation, then named Jiang Yukun’s treasures and suggested he might also have a cultivation-enhancing artifact.
• Jiang Yukun suppressed his anger and offered to exchange twenty-one Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators for his three captured disciples.
• Ye Tian changed his demand, asking for the twenty-one disciples and Luo Su, and told Jiang Yukun to remove the Spirit Binding Curse.
• Jiang Yukun realized releasing the captives could leave him surrounded and accused Ye Tian of trying to trick him.
• Ye Tian reminded Jiang Yukun that the Earth Escape Lock would let him leave the secret realm after reclaiming the three captives and deny the Three-Ringed Golden Saber Sect’s plot, leaving Jiang Yukun speechless.

Ye Tian forced Jiang Yukun to abandon his plans and open the secret realm exit, but Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators disrupted their deal by trying to capture him. Jiang Yukun unleashed a black technique that engulfed everyone nearby, and Ye Tian lost consciousness.

• Jiang Yukun offered to leave the secret realm with the Earth Escape Lock and leave a Spirit Binding Puppet avatar to free the bound cultivators, but Ye Tian distrusted the deal.
• Ye Tian revealed that Sun Fulu was suspected of being Jiang Yukun's insider, and Jiang Yukun decided to leave.
• Jiang Yukun released the cultivators bound by his flowing-light abilities and began forming the exit gate with the Earth Escape Lock.
• A Heavenly Sword Sect cultivator urged the others to capture Jiang Yukun, and more than twenty cultivators surrounded him despite Ye Tian's warnings.
• Jiang Yukun raised a spiritual energy barrier as the cultivators attacked, then transformed the light gate into a black gate and unleashed a black pillar.
• Ye Tian fled, but the darkness overtook him and he lost consciousness; when it cleared, Jiang Yukun and the Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators had vanished.