Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng questioned two cultivators about Buzhou Mountain and realized it was one of Wu Li’s hidden countermeasures, anchoring the West Continent’s dragon vein. He went to the mountain to investigate while Chen Shisan attended the gathering, where Chen Changsheng began explaining Natal Magical Artifacts.

• Chen Changsheng told Chen Shisan to attend the Buzhou Mountain banquet alone and warned him not to reveal the information he had taught him.
• Chen Changsheng questioned two captive cultivators, who said Wu Li had moved Buzhou Mountain and had taken everything with him when he ascended.
• Chen Changsheng realized Buzhou Mountain was an ordinary peak positioned like a nail in the West Continent’s dragon vein and suspected Wu Li had left it as a contingency.
• Chen Changsheng headed toward Buzhou Mountain to discover what Wu Li had hidden there.
• At the gathering, Chen Shisan asked why some cultivators spat out their weapons, and Chen Changsheng explained the connection to Natal Magical Artifacts.

Chen Changsheng explained the risks of Natal Magical Artifacts and reflected on why he could not teach Chen Shisan swordsmanship. At the Buzhou Mountain Sword Debate, Chen Changsheng told Chen Shisan to rescue a captive Dark Bird, and Chen Shisan set out despite knowing he could not defeat its captors.

• Chen Changsheng explained that Natal Magical Artifacts could injure their cultivators when destroyed and that wealthy factions could outlast them with spare artifacts.
• Chen Changsheng realized Chen Shisan had already begun forming his own Sword Dao and that teaching him a standard sword technique would constrain him.
• At the Buzhou Mountain Sword Debate, the organizers presented a wounded Dark Bird as the prize, and Chen Changsheng explained that its race had been exterminated for its valuable body and resources.
• Chen Shisan said he would not kill a hypothetical Demon Race prodigy without a personal grudge, and Chen Changsheng laughed at his answer.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Chen Shisan to bring him the captive Dark Bird, and Chen Shisan took the Zhenwu Sword and went to confront its captors.

Chen Shisan entered the Sword Debate Assembly to take Black Bird, drawing his sword before a cultivator but getting sent flying. Chen Changsheng arrived to help, and after Chen Shisan refused to fight further, he tried to leave with the cage; a sword cultivator challenged Chen Changsheng’s claimed identity as Wang Er Mazi of Azure Cloud Mountain.

• Chen Shisan went to the center of the assembly and declared that he had come to take Black Bird away.
• A sword cultivator challenged Chen Shisan, who drew his sword a fraction before the man but was struck by his sword qi and thrown into a boulder.
• Chen Shisan returned and told Chen Changsheng that he had won because he drew his sword first, then began dragging Black Bird’s cage instead of continuing to fight.
• Chen Changsheng told the crowd he would take Black Bird and produced an invitation under the name Wang Er Mazi of Azure Cloud Mountain, calling Chen Shisan his junior brother, Li Dazui.
• The sword cultivator recognized Wang Er Mazi’s real name and challenged Chen Changsheng to explain why his face had no pockmarks.

Chen Changsheng demonstrated a sword strike that split the heavens, then freed the Mystic Bird Clan youth at Buzhou Mountain and learned why the youth believed he could save the Demon Race. The chapter ended with Chen Changsheng asking why he should help them.

• Chen Changsheng took the Zhenwu Sword from Chen Shisan, made it submit, and swung it, splitting the heavens.
• A white wolf sensed Chen Changsheng's return and headed toward Peach Mountain, while a long-robed man warned the Holy Ruins Forbidden Ground to stay quiet.
• At Buzhou Mountain, Chen Changsheng asked the assembled cultivators about the Sword Debate, then told them where two buried people could be found.
• Chen Changsheng bent open the cage, freed the Dark Bird youth, and removed his restrictions.
• The youth explained that his father had sent him away when the Mystic Bird Clan was destroyed and told him to find someone who could persuade Wu Li to spare the Demon Race.
• Chen Changsheng recognized that Wu Li had harmed the West Continent's Demon Race, then asked why he should help them.

Chen Changsheng agreed to spare the Demon Race after Tian Xuan swore that the Mystic Bird Clan would stand with humanity and prevent war. He explained how the Demon Race’s failed plot against Wu Li led to West Continent’s devastation and the Tiger Guard’s campaign.

• Tian Xuan swore that the Mystic Bird Clan would remain friendly with humanity and side with it if humans and demons went to war.
• Chen Changsheng accepted Tian Xuan’s oath and gave the Mystic Bird Clan and the Demon Race a chance to survive.
• Chen Changsheng told Chen Shisan that demon prodigies had once plotted with the Child of the Forbidden Ground to kill Gongsun Huaiyu.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the Demon Race and the Forbidden Ground had trapped Wu Li in a Killing Array, but he survived and destroyed most of the attackers.
• Tian Xuan recognized Chen Changsheng as the former Holy Son of Purple Mansion and pleaded for the Demon Race’s forgiveness.
• Chen Changsheng said Gongsun Huaiyu retaliated by leading eight hundred Tiger Guards through West Continent for three months.

Chen Changsheng urged Tian Xuan to lead the Mystic Bird Clan and tested Chen Shisan’s trust in him before new enemies arrived. Chen Shisan attacked the younger newcomer and was badly injured, while the newcomer’s father approached Chen Changsheng and introduced himself as Qian Fang Kong of the Wan Tong Merchant Guild.

• Chen Changsheng reminded Tian Xuan that Tiger Guard had slaughtered thirty-eight powerful races and sent him to fetch wild fruit after Tian Xuan pledged the Mystic Bird Clan’s loyalty.
• Chen Changsheng scolded Chen Shisan for his stubbornness, but Chen Shisan explained that he trusted Chen Changsheng and would not look down on him.
• Chen Changsheng warned Chen Shisan that the people behind the Sword Debate Assembly would arrive and told him to fight the younger enemies.
• Two figures arrived, and Chen Shisan rushed at them; one summoned a giant cauldron that struck Chen Shisan and left him seriously injured.
• The younger figure’s father told him to check Chen Shisan’s injuries, then introduced himself to Chen Changsheng as Qian Fang Kong of the Wan Tong Merchant Guild.

Chen Changsheng confronted Qian Fang Kong and secured aid for the Mystic Bird Clan, a warning to Wan Tong Merchant Guild’s hidden backer, and action against Buzhou Mountain. He then took Qian Bao'er as a maid and traveled toward the Northern Desert with her, Tian Xuan, and the injured Chen Shisan.

• Chen Changsheng stopped Qian Fang Kong’s introduction and asked who backed Wan Tong Merchant Guild.
• Chen Changsheng asked Qian Fang Kong to spare the Mystic Bird Clan, tell his hidden backer that Chen Changsheng had returned, and send someone to level Buzhou Mountain.
• Chen Changsheng guaranteed that the Mystic Bird Clan would not trouble Wan Tong Merchant Guild for three thousand years, and Qian Fang Kong promised to return the clan to its former habitat within half a month.
• Qian Fang Kong offered his daughter Qian Bao'er to serve Chen Changsheng, and she agreed to follow him to the Northern Desert.
• Chen Changsheng departed with Qian Bao'er, Tian Xuan, and Chen Shisan, then complained that the three young people were too quiet.

Chen Changsheng explained Chen Shisan’s defeat and promised to find him a swordsmanship teacher, then answered questions from Tian Xuan and Qian Bao’er. After searching the wilderness for thirty-eight days, he found something that Qian Bao’er called a great omen of disaster.

• Chen Changsheng told Chen Shisan he had arranged the loss to teach him to be cautious before drawing his sword, and said his new teacher was in the Central Court.
• Chen Changsheng told Tian Xuan that Buzhou Mountain was damaging the Demon Race and that toppling it would only give the race a chance to recover.
• Chen Changsheng told Qian Bao’er she was the weakest of the three and that she could not endure Chen Shisan’s or Tian Xuan’s paths.
• Chen Changsheng searched the mountains and fields with his Compass for thirty-eight days before announcing that he had found something.
• Qian Bao’er saw what Chen Changsheng had found and urged him to bury it again, calling it a great omen of disaster.

Qian Bao'er explained that the Undertaker was linked to the deaths of the Invincible Daoist and the Silver Moon Wolf Emperor, while Tian Xuan realized Chen Changsheng might be the Undertaker himself. Chen Changsheng confirmed he knew the Undertaker well and asked everyone to help uncover a coffin, warning them not to disturb the other graves.

• Qian Bao'er described the Undertaker as a taboo figure whose appearance foretold a prodigy's death, and Tian Xuan shared what he had heard from his clan's elders.
• Qian Bao'er revealed that the Wan Tong Merchant Guild had learned the Undertaker buried the Invincible Daoist and the Silver Moon Wolf Emperor around two hundred years earlier.
• Tian Xuan speculated that Chen Changsheng and the Undertaker were the same person after seeing Chen Changsheng mourn over the gravestone.
• Chen Changsheng said he knew the Undertaker well and described him as someone who wanted his friends to return to their roots.
• Chen Changsheng told Qian Bao'er and the others to help dig out a coffin and warned them not to disturb the graves of the Invincible Daoist and the Silver Moon Wolf Emperor.

Chen Changsheng unearthed Jiang Feng’s sword and made Chen Shisan the dead swordsman’s disciple, then went to visit the Blind Old Monk, Xuan Xin. He told Xuan Xin he planned to challenge the Ascension Road again, leaving the old monk startled.

• Chen Changsheng dug up Jiang Feng’s grave and told Chen Shisan to take Jiang Feng as his master.
• Chen Shisan kowtowed to Jiang Feng’s grave, promised to avenge him by slashing fate, and received Jiang Feng’s Three-Foot Green Edge sword from Chen Changsheng.
• Chen Changsheng left Tian Xuan and the others to visit the Blind Old Monk, Xuan Xin, at the border between Central Court and the Northern Desert.
• Chen Changsheng shared a simple meal with Xuan Xin and said he was going to the Northern Desert.
• Chen Changsheng told Xuan Xin he had been beaten back from the Ascension Road and intended to challenge it again.

Chen Changsheng discussed the Ascension Road and the burden of prolonged life with Xuan Xin, then gave him a Wooden Box to suppress his demonic nature. Xuan Xin erupted when Chen Changsheng raised the Ruthless Immortal, but calmed down and asked why Chen Changsheng did not hide his secret of immortality.

• Xuan Xin asked whether Chen Changsheng had found a candidate for the Ascension Road and whether he could bear to send someone close to him there.
• Xuan Xin explained that Wu Li had left Chen Changsheng behind because he knew Chen Changsheng would try to stop him, and argued that living for thousands of extra years had tormented people such as Wanyan Yue, Song Yuanshan, and Zuo Xinghe.
• Chen Changsheng said he understood the suffering of prolonged life, then offered to find Xuan Xin an opponent to help him vent his resentment instead of sending him to the Ascension Road.
• Chen Changsheng gave Xuan Xin a Wooden Box containing an old friend's relics to suppress his demonic nature, and Xuan Xin revealed that Wu Li had once intervened to stop him from slaughtering a city.
• Xuan Xin's demonic qi surged when Chen Changsheng began to mention the Ruthless Immortal, but he calmed down after Chen Changsheng agreed to stop.
• Xuan Xin asked why Chen Changsheng did not conceal his immortality secret, and Chen Changsheng replied that people prepared to die would see immortality as torment; Xuan Xin laughed and said Chen Changsheng always saw things clearly.

Chen Changsheng explained to Xuan Xin why he had chosen the stubborn Chen Shisan, whose mission in the Northern Desert would test whether he could make a miracle and escape the Shackles of Fate. At the Central Court, Chen Shisan helped Tian Xuan find purpose in doing what he wanted without fearing future regret, and the two set off for meat buns.

• Chen Changsheng told Xuan Xin that Chen Shisan had poor talent but unwavering resolve, and that he had given him one last chance to journey to the Northern Desert.
• Xuan Xin warned that Chen Shisan and his two companions were likely to fail in the North Desert Buddhist Kingdom, but Chen Changsheng believed Chen Shisan could create a miracle.
• After helping rebury Jiang Feng's coffin, Chen Shisan sat wiping his swords while Qian Bao'er withdrew to process what she had learned.
• Tian Xuan asked Chen Shisan what their journey meant, and Chen Shisan said that doing what he wanted without fearing future regret was meaning enough.
• Chen Shisan told Tian Xuan that Chen Changsheng had earned his trust by waiting and persuading him for five years, and by giving him an egg.
• Chen Shisan offered Tian Xuan one of his two eggs, and Tian Xuan asked for the bigger one.

Bai Ze persuaded Nalan Xingde to leave the Nameless Academy and seek Chen Changsheng, whose appearance gave Nalan Xingde a reason to put his learning into practice. Nalan Xingde chose the Northern Desert as their destination, and they set out to find their teacher.

• Bai Ze urged Nalan Xingde to leave the academy and find Chen Changsheng, but Nalan Xingde initially refused, warning that Bai Ze could get into trouble.
• Bai Ze argued that Nalan Xingde might someday become Chen Changsheng's teacher and quoted Chen Changsheng's idea of uniting knowledge and action as one.
• Nalan Xingde realized that he had been missing something in his understanding and agreed to go find Chen Changsheng.
• Nalan Xingde chose the Northern Desert over the West Continent, reasoning that it and the South Plains were the only regions still able to nurture peerless prodigies.
• Nalan Xingde explained that he wanted to reason things out with others instead of keeping the principles he had learned from books to himself.

Nalan Xingde silenced Bai Ze and took it away from the academy, while Chen Shisan and Tian Xuan promised Qian Bao'er stars in return for her help. In the Northern Desert Buddhist Kingdom, Jue Yuan revealed that finding the bearer of the Mandate of Heaven could resolve the calamity threatening the ancient tree.

• Nalan Xingde sealed Bai Ze's mouth for three days and took it from the academy, while Bai Ze accepted that escape was impossible.
• Chen Shisan told Qian Bao'er he would give her the brightest star after becoming a great swordsman, and Tian Xuan promised her the second-brightest star.
• Chen Shisan, Qian Bao'er, and Tian Xuan continued toward the Buddhist Kingdom, where they expected to meet their sir.
• Jue Yuan entered the Buddhist Kingdom and offered to help avert its calamity.
• Jue Yuan examined the spear draining the ancient tree's life and said the Mandate of Heaven was needed to remove it.
• Jue Yuan told the monks to find the bearer of the severed Mandate of Heaven, leaving them shaken by the revelation.

Jue Yuan revealed that Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li’s Heaven’s Mandate had shattered, accelerating the formation of a new mandate and drawing hidden powers into action. The chapter ended with a figure in the Void Land accepting that Zhang Bairen might pursue this life’s Heaven’s Mandate while looking toward the Lower Realm.

• Jue Yuan identified himself as a monk from Shaolin Temple and told the Northern Desert Buddhist Kingdom that Wu Li’s Heaven’s Mandate had broken, making a new bearer necessary to save its lifeline.
• Jue Yuan released a fragment of Wu Li’s shattered Heaven’s Mandate, which made the spear in the ancient tree hum and confirmed his claim.
• A handsome man in the Central Court ordered his followers to accelerate their plans because Chen Changsheng had begun to Enter the Game, and he established a Night Watchman position to guard a gate.
• A long-robed man in the Eastern Wilderness put away his chessboard, declared his task complete, and departed the Holy Ruins Forbidden Ground after warning of a coward hidden among them.
• A figure in the Void Land heard that the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Ground wanted Zhang Bairen to bear Heaven’s Mandate and was told to yield for one more life; he then looked toward the Lower Realm.

Chen Changsheng disguised himself as Jue Yuan and persuaded the Northern Desert Buddhist Kingdom to hold a Buddha Fate Assembly, using Wu Li’s broken Heaven’s Mandate as bait. He realized Wu Li had shattered his Heaven’s Mandate himself and decided to use its special fragment to draw out powerful figures.

• In the darkness, wounded Wu Li blamed his teacher for past events, vowed his feud was not over, and disappeared.
• Nalan Xingde told Bai Ze they might have to reason with a Heaven’s Mandate Bearer in the future.
• Jue Yuan showed the monks Wu Li’s broken Heaven’s Mandate and proposed a Buddha Fate Assembly to draw in those seeking the new Heaven’s Mandate.
• Jue Yuan convinced the monks that the assembly could help the Buddhist sect secure its future power, and they agreed to hold it soon.
• After the monks left, Chen Changsheng revealed that he had disguised himself as Jue Yuan and reflected on discovering that Wu Li had shattered his Heaven’s Mandate and hidden its fragments.
• Chen Changsheng decided to use Wu Li’s special Heaven’s Mandate fragment to lure powerful figures into the open.

Tian Xuan warned Qian Bao'er and Chen Shisan that the North Desert Buddhist Kingdom was far stronger than the Wan Tong Merchant Guild and that its reopening could draw them into a deadly conflict. Chen Changsheng appeared and ordered the three youths to travel into the Buddhist Kingdom and find him.

• Tian Xuan urged Chen Shisan and Qian Bao'er to avoid the Buddhist Kingdom after seeing the distant Buddha Light.
• Qian Bao'er questioned Tian Xuan's fear, so he explained that the Dark Bird Race had been weakened by Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li's war and that the Buddhist Kingdom had once employed an elder at the peak of the Sixth Realm.
• Tian Xuan said the Buddhist Kingdom had stayed closed because Wu Li was too powerful and predicted its reopening would create a dangerous giant vortex.
• Chen Changsheng appeared behind Chen Shisan and told the three youths to walk twenty thousand li into the Buddhist Kingdom and find him.

Chen Changsheng sent Chen Shisan, Tian Xuan, and Qian Bao'er toward the Buddhist Kingdom, where a Buddha Fate Assembly would take place in three years. After the trio chose to press on, he put them through punishing battles and hinted at a new challenge as their injuries worsened.

• Chen Changsheng told Chen Shisan, Tian Xuan, and Qian Bao'er to reach the Buddhist Kingdom and said they could turn back if they regretted the dangerous journey.
• Chen Shisan rejected the idea of a way back, and Chen Changsheng explained that the Buddhist Kingdom would hold a Buddha Fate Assembly in about three years.
• Chen Shisan followed Chen Changsheng, Tian Xuan joined them, and Qian Bao'er decided to follow despite doubting she could keep up.
• The trio fought a huge ferocious beast and suffered severe injuries, while Chen Changsheng collected a three-hundred-year-old Five Flavor Grass and used it as soup seasoning.
• Qian Bao'er warned Chen Changsheng that the repeated battles could kill Chen Shisan and Tian Xuan, and Chen Changsheng promised a surprise challenge.

Chen Shisan explored a large city with Qian Bao'er and Tian Xuan, then used money from selling hunted-beast materials to treat them to a meal. At the Eight Treasures Pavilion, his miserly attempt to order just one dish prompted Qian Bao'er to take over and order the full spread.

• Chen Changsheng admitted he had never taken Chen Shisan to experience a city before, gave Qian Bao'er a Beast Hide Pouch, and returned to the Zhenwu Sword to rest.
• Chen Shisan worried that city meals would be too expensive, but Qian Bao'er explained that the pouch held valuable remains from the beasts he had hunted.
• Qian Bao'er sold the beast materials for three thousand six hundred jin of Divine Source and gave Chen Shisan and Tian Xuan their shares.
• Chen Shisan chose the Eight Treasures Pavilion to fulfill his promise to treat Qian Bao'er and Tian Xuan, unaware that every dish there was costly.
• Chen Shisan ordered one dish and said they had brought dry rations, so Qian Bao'er pushed him aside and ordered every signature dish and a jar of 180-year-old Bamboo Leaf Green.

Chen Shisan borrowed money from Tian Xuan to cover the expensive feast, then confronted the people upstairs after a man in green robes smashed the meal. The chapter ended with Chen Shisan demanding compensation from the man who had thrown someone onto the table.

• Chen Shisan learned the feast would cost about 1,700 jin of divine source, and Tian Xuan lent him the money in exchange for a future sword strike.
• A black shadow crashed onto the table and shattered the food, while a Young Master insulted the victim and left.
• Chen Shisan headed upstairs, and Tian Xuan prepared for a fight as Chen Changsheng appeared and explained that local prodigies, including Nangong Ruoxue, had gathered to hunt a Treasure Vomiting Rat.
• Chen Shisan knocked on the private-room door and demanded compensation for the destroyed dishes.
• Chen Shisan clarified that he wanted the man in green robes, who had thrown the person onto the table, to pay.