Chapter Summaries

Ma Ling'er and Xu Yao suspected Chen Changsheng might be connected to the ambush on their way to the Sword Qi Great Wall and planned to test him. Chen Changsheng let them act as variables in his plans, then agreed to find Xu Yao a match outside the Eight Desolations Nine Regions.

• Xu Yao told Ma Ling'er that the Book of Life and Death contained more than twenty thousand people named Chen Changsheng, leaving her unable to identify the right one.
• Ma Ling'er said her father would watch Chen Changsheng and suspected his appearance during their ambush was too coincidental, so she and Xu Yao decided to test him.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that he had overheard Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er through their communication devices and ordered Hu Yan and the others not to interfere with them.
• Chen Changsheng told Hu Yan that he might take Xu Yao outside for a trip, and Hu Yan said Xu Yao should decide for herself after learning the risks.
• Hu Yan asked Chen Changsheng to find Xu Yao a husband, and he agreed to look beyond the Eight Desolations Nine Regions despite her extensive requirements.

Chen Changsheng agreed to accompany Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er to the Wilderness, recognizing that they planned to test him. He then teased Jian Fei about his feelings for Ma Ling'er and got him to practice swordsmanship by claiming it would make him handsome.

• Xu Yao invited Chen Changsheng and Jian Fei to join her and Ma Ling'er on a trip to the Wilderness, and Chen Changsheng accepted.
• Jian Fei warned Chen Changsheng that Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er were plotting to test him, but Chen Changsheng said he agreed because he found it fun.
• Chen Changsheng asked Jian Fei when he would confess his feelings to Ma Ling'er, prompting Jian Fei to explain why he believed they had no future together.
• Chen Changsheng told Jian Fei not to resign himself to his fate and claimed that pursuing a woman depended on being handsome rather than strong.
• Jian Fei ran off to practice swordsmanship, while Chen Changsheng reflected that Jian Fei could only be roused by the prospect of looking cool.

Chen Changsheng and his companions traveled through the Wilds while discussing the Reincarnation War and evidence of a mysterious sixth person who had joined it. They prepared to ambush a Divine Realm Great Demon, though Chen Changsheng admitted he did not know who the sixth person was.

• Xu Yao told Jian Fei that the Wilds formed when the Heavenly Court drove warmongers into one region after the Eight Wastes collided with another world.
• Chen Changsheng corrected Xu Yao, explaining that the histories said the Ice-Fire Immortal King and the God of Wealth joined the Reincarnation War rather than leading it.
• Ma Ling'er cited unofficial histories and an archive record of a throne to argue that a mysterious sixth person had accompanied the five known figures to the Eight Wastes.
• Chen Changsheng jokingly claimed to have led the war from the throne, then clarified that he only inferred the sixth person's existence and did not know their identity.
• Xu Yao said a Divine Realm Great Demon would pass through the area, and the group prepared to ambush it.

Chen Changsheng discovered that Xu Yao and her companions’ formation concealed a trap, then let his expendable puppet and Jian Fei remain in danger while Xu Yao fought Long Hui. From afar, Chen Changsheng watched the battle and revealed that he was investigating a spy who had arranged to have Xu Yao killed in the Wilds.

• Chen Changsheng revealed his Immortal Venerable aura and agreed to guard the formation’s Life Gate, while recognizing that an older formation beneath it could kill even a Yellow Immortal expert.
• Chen Changsheng told Jian Fei that the apparent Chen Changsheng was only a weak puppet nearing the end of its energy, then left Jian Fei to face the danger alone.
• Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er activated their trap and brought down Long Hui, the Wilds’ eighth-ranked genius General, who attacked Ma Ling'er before Xu Yao blocked his strike.
• Ma Ling'er used the formation to aid Xu Yao, who recovered with a pill and charged Long Hui as they prepared to fight to the death.
• A hundred li away, Chen Changsheng read the intelligence and concluded that someone had forced Xu Yao into the Wilds and arranged a covert trap to kill her; he revealed that he, Xu Yao, and the spy were all fishing for one another.

Xu Yao and her companions were ambushed by Long Hui and a peak Heavenly Immortal Realm expert, but Chen Changsheng secretly rescued them with a puppet and teleportation array. They landed in the depths of the Wilds, where Chen Changsheng scolded them for relying on others and treated Xu Yao's wound.

• Ma Ling'er recognized that Chen Changsheng had vanished and realized Xu Yao's group had fallen into a trap, while Xu Yao and Long Hui struck each other with their strongest attacks.
• Long Hui summoned a peak Heavenly Immortal Realm expert, who blocked Ma Ling'er's distress signal and attacked her.
• Chen Changsheng refused Ma Hu's request to intervene, then used his puppet to exchange a blow with the expert and teleport Xu Yao's group away.
• The puppet broke apart after teleporting them, and Chen Changsheng told Ma Ling'er that they should handle their own affairs instead of relying on others.
• Chen Changsheng revived Jian Fei, removed Black Flame from Xu Yao's wound, and examined a map.

Chen Changsheng revealed that he was the Perfect Young Master from two thousand years ago and explained how his erased role connected him to the Sword Qi Great Wall. Ma Ling'er traced the historical clues to an unnamed figure who once acted in the Jade Emperor's place, then turned her attention to the unexplained transformation in Xu Yao's father's life.

• Chen Changsheng revived Jian Fei and summoned Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er to discuss their defeat.
• Ma Ling'er demanded to know Chen Changsheng's identity, and he revealed that he was the Perfect Young Master from two thousand years ago.
• Chen Changsheng said he had started the Reincarnation War, created the Sword Qi Great Wall, and guided Qian Ya toward becoming the God of Wealth.
• Ma Ling'er connected the Sword Qi Great Wall's origins to the ancient era and inferred that an erased figure had made decisions while the Jade Emperor was in seclusion.
• Ma Ling'er asked Xu Yao who had taught her father, the Ice-Fire Immortal King, and pointed out that his life changed dramatically at a certain point.

Ma Ling'er deduced that Chen Changsheng had been the hidden guide behind many figures and pivotal events across history, and she and Xu Yao recognized him as their Grandmaster. Chen Changsheng accepted their respect and set off with them for the Sword Qi Great Wall, while Xu Yao discovered that the “fine horse” she was leading was Lord Horse Face.

• Ma Ling'er argued that a missing guide had influenced figures including the Sword God, Demon Emperor, and Wu Li, and identified Chen Changsheng as that guide.
• Ma Ling'er and Xu Yao knelt before Chen Changsheng and called him Grandmaster, while Jian Fei followed suit.
• Chen Changsheng told them to call him “Sir” and said they would talk as they traveled back to the Sword Qi Great Wall before the Sword Cultivator Assembly.
• Xu Yao asked Jian Fei how he had met Chen Changsheng, and Jian Fei recalled that Chen Changsheng had saved him from Horse Face.
• Jian Fei revealed that the fine horse Xu Yao was leading was Horse Face, leaving Xu Yao dumbfounded.

Chen Changsheng reviewed Jian Fei, Ma Ling'er, and Xu Yao, judging their performances passable while pointing out flaws in their cultivation and judgment. He left Xu Yao praised but reminded her that she still lagged far behind true heavenly prodigies.

• Xu Yao told Jian Fei that the silent fine horse was Horse Face, an Immortal King Realm expert who had once fought her father, and apologized to him.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Horse Face could not answer because he had forbidden him to speak for three days, then called everyone over for a review.
• Chen Changsheng praised Jian Fei's courage but said he had stagnated because he had not understood his own nature or race.
• Chen Changsheng criticized Ma Ling'er for focusing too narrowly on her schemes, losing composure when plans changed, and relying too much on her identity.
• Chen Changsheng called Xu Yao's pride both a strength and a flaw, praised her swordsmanship and humility toward the weak, then said she still fell far short of true heavenly prodigies.

Chen Changsheng humbled Xu Yao by telling her about prodigies whose talents surpassed hers, then revealed that he planned to take her to fight powerful young enemies. He left her stunned by explaining that he had been captured and tortured for more than ten thousand years.

• Chen Changsheng told Xu Yao about an enemy who became an Immortal King at one hundred and challenged her to match that achievement.
• Chen Changsheng described Chen Xiang's swordsmanship and the accomplishments of Yin Qi and Nalan Zi Ping, revealing that he had raised the three brothers.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er had been sealed away because the three prodigies would have overshadowed them.
• Chen Changsheng said he would take Xu Yao to fight the enemy's powerful young prodigies, warning that the battle could cost her life.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that the enemy had captured and tortured him for more than ten thousand years.

Chen Changsheng brought Xu Yao, Ma Ling'er, and Jian Fei to Nameless Village to question its hidden inhabitants about the world’s secrets. After demonstrating the Seven Orifices Sword, he ordered Ma Ling'er to fight the entire village, and she was immediately attacked.

• Chen Changsheng warned Jian Fei, Xu Yao, and Ma Ling'er that danger awaited beyond the Eight Desolations Nine Regions, then said he would spend seven days showing them the world.
• Chen Changsheng explained that he had created the wilderness to give long-hidden figures a place to settle and led the group to Nameless Village to question them.
• Chen Changsheng threatened to destroy the village unless its people answered him, and the old man at its entrance went inside to report his arrival.
• Chen Changsheng demonstrated how the Seven Orifices Sword split into seven Flying Swords and injured seven villagers, warning the Jiang Family not to oppose him.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Ma Ling'er to fight everyone in the village, and over a hundred villagers rushed her after a stone struck her chest.

Chen Changsheng forced Ma Ling'er to endure a lopsided battle, then explained the Jiang Family's history and his old conflicts with them as he entered their ancestral cave. Left outside with the hostile villagers, Jian Fei warned Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er that the Jiang Family might take its anger out on them, and villagers soon surrounded them.

• Over a hundred cultivators overwhelmed Ma Ling'er, and Chen Changsheng told her that real battlefields involved gangs and schemes rather than fair duels.
• Chen Changsheng followed the old man toward the Jiang Family's cave and explained that the Nine Regions Jiang Family and the hidden Jiang Family had once been one.
• Chen Changsheng recounted the Extinguish Heaven War, his conflict with Jiang Bufan, and the purges that shaped the Three Thousand Zhou and Nine Regions.
• Chen Changsheng entered the cave with the old man and told Xu Yao, Jian Fei, and Ma Ling'er to wait outside.
• Jian Fei warned Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er that the Jiang Family feared Chen Changsheng but might attack his followers, and numerous villagers emerged around them.

Chen Changsheng confronted the Jiang Family’s ancient foundations to demand knowledge about the world beyond the Eight Desolations Nine Regions. He learned that they possessed hidden passageways and received their information, then asked where his powerful enemy’s fatal weakness lay.

• Chen Changsheng entered the cave, dismissed the Jiang Family’s objections, and insisted they help him despite their anger over the wars he had caused.
• Chen Changsheng argued that he had destroyed the Jiang Family because it obstructed the world’s operation and that the family had accepted the world he created by remaining in the Eight Desolations Nine Regions.
• Chen Changsheng explained how he had come to believe the firmament meant the world outside, the Jiang Family were Preservationists, and the Eight Desolations Nine Regions were the World’s Root.
• The Jiang Family’s ancient foundation refused to explain the World’s Root, saying Chen Changsheng would have to seek the answer himself.
• Chen Changsheng demanded the Jiang Family’s hidden passageways to the world outside, and its ancient foundation sent him a Jade Slip with their locations.
• After reading the Jade Slip, Chen Changsheng asked the Jiang Family where his powerful enemy’s fatal weakness was.

Chen Changsheng learned information from the Jiang Family's old guard that raised his odds of an expedition to thirty percent, then left with the battered youngsters. At camp, he taught them about benevolent swordsmanship and explained that Xu Yao needed to develop a sword of her own.

• Chen Changsheng exchanged information with the Jiang Family's old guard, learned that the Sword Qi Great Wall spies were not the Jiang Family's doing, and said his expedition had a thirty percent chance of success.
• Chen Changsheng warned the Jiang Family's old guard not to interfere with his coming expedition, then left the cave.
• Xu Yao kept fighting the Jiang Family members despite her severe injuries until Chen Changsheng stopped her sword and ordered her to bring Jian Fei and Ma Ling'er along.
• At the campfire, Chen Changsheng taught Jian Fei that benevolent swordsmanship meant subduing enemies without fighting, and Jian Fei went off to practice.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Xu Yao had received the Black Profound Sword to help her develop her own swordsmanship, and said Pawning the Stars Sword had been her instinctive choice.

Chen Changsheng explained that Xu Yao’s Stars Sword Art was not flawed, but that she was neglecting her exceptional physical gifts and following an unsuitable path. He demonstrated how Sword Intent forced an enemy to defend, then returned her sword and prepared to teach her through a special method.

• Ma Ling'er questioned Chen Changsheng about Xu Yao selling her sword for wine, and Chen Changsheng reprimanded Xu Yao for wasting money.
• Chen Changsheng said Xu Yao’s Stars Sword Art was sound but that she was wasting her naturally powerful physique inherited from Xu Hu and Hu Yan.
• Chen Changsheng explained how the White-Haired Sword God combined swordsmanship with a powerful body and why Xu Yao should avoid the extreme life-or-death path of ordinary sword cultivators.
• Chen Changsheng pointed his fingers at Xu Yao and locked her in overwhelming Sword Intent, making her retreat and choose to defend.
• Chen Changsheng returned the Black Profound Sword and told Xu Yao to abandon the Stars Sword Art, strengthen her body, and get into more fights.
• Chen Changsheng said Xu Yao’s peaceful upbringing left her without an obsession that transcended life and death, so he would use a special method to teach her.

Chen Changsheng challenged Xu Yao to surpass her limits by making his two-thousand-year Five Elements Mulberry Wine the reward for cutting through a tree branch. He also drew Ma Ling'er and Jian Fei into the training, and the chapter ended with Xu Yao mourning the last drop of wine after Chen Changsheng drank it all.

• Chen Changsheng explained that Xu Yao needed pressure to reach her limits and offered his rare Five Elements Mulberry Wine as a reward for defeating him.
• Xu Yao accepted the challenge, but Chen Changsheng knocked Black Obsidian from her hand within ten moves and said she had not fought with enough motivation.
• Chen Changsheng poured himself a bowl of wine and declared that Xu Yao would get none of the jar unless she cut through his tree branch.
• Xu Yao intensified her attacks with her Sword Immortal Body, while Chen Changsheng parried effortlessly without spilling his wine.
• Chen Changsheng invited Ma Ling'er and Jian Fei to join the fight; he knocked their weapons away, then had all three keep attacking while he drank for half an hour.
• After Chen Changsheng finished the wine and rinsed the bowl three times, Xu Yao clutched it and wept over the empty jar.

After Ma Ling'er and Xu Yao killed a Great Demon, Chen Changsheng warned Horse Face that a spy from the Eight Desolations Nine Regions had betrayed the Heavenly Court. He wagered that the betrayal was real, leaving Horse Face worried that people of the New Era might turn against the world they had built.

• Ma Ling'er and Xu Yao killed a Great Demon, and Jian Fei collected materials from its corpse.
• Chen Changsheng told Ma Ling'er that the Sword Cultivator Assembly might test her heart, then asked Horse Face whether the young disciples could overcome the Love Tribulation.
• Chen Changsheng explained that someone from the Heavenly Court had betrayed them and that the spy was behind the plot against Ma Ling'er and the others.
• Horse Face rejected Chen Changsheng's suspicion, so Chen Changsheng wagered that Horse Face and Ox-Head would serve as his mounts for five hundred years if he was right.
• Horse Face accepted the wager and feared that the betrayal meant the New Era's ideals had gone wrong, then warned Xu Yao and the others not to betray them.

Gui Daoran discovered that the Mountain and River Splendor Painting belonged to Drunken Scholar, whose memories he had begun to recover, and decided to follow the mysterious person's request with Gui Qianjie at his side. Meanwhile, Jian Fei returned to the Sword Qi Great Wall after seven days of torment as Chen Changsheng and Xu Yao continued provoking the Wilds' experts.

• Gui Daoran warned Gui Qianjie to avoid Nangong Xing, saying his old friend seemed to have changed.
• Gui Daoran identified his scroll as the legendary Mountain and River Splendor Painting and revealed that he believed himself to be Drunken Scholar's reincarnation.
• Gui Qianjie reassured Gui Daoran that she loved him as himself, and he chose to face the mysterious person's request with her beside him.
• Jian Fei reached the Sword Qi Great Wall after Chen Changsheng's provocations had left him pursued by the Wilds' experts for five days and nights.
• Chen Changsheng and Xu Yao continued taunting the Wilds' experts while Ma Ling'er and Jian Fei watched in disbelief.

Chen Changsheng rescued Ma Ling'er and Xu Yao, then tested Jian Fei's deduction about the plot against them. Jian Fei concluded the conspirators were inside the Sword Qi Great Wall, and Chen Changsheng revealed he knew who was involved, leaving to deal with the traitors.

• Chen Changsheng killed over a hundred Wilds cultivators who had pursued Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er, and Ma Hu welcomed the group to the Sword Qi Great Wall.
• Chen Changsheng gave Ma Hu, Ma Ling'er, and Xu Yao time alone, then asked Jian Fei to identify who had plotted against Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er.
• Jian Fei reasoned that the plotter was inside the Sword Qi Great Wall because the Wilds had failed to act effectively while the group was missing.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that his own communication devices had kept him informed about the Sword Qi Great Wall and said he knew exactly who was involved, though not who led them.
• Chen Changsheng told Jian Fei to live his own life, asked him to send Xu Yao and the others to find him, and left while Jian Fei trembled, fearing the consequences.

Jian Fei feared that powerful figures within the Eight Desolations Nine Regions had colluded with the Wilds, while Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er were warned not to interfere with the investigation into the plot against them. Chen Changsheng reassured them, then threatened to behead them if they failed to regain their resolve.

• Jian Fei reasoned that the suspected traitors were likely influential middle-ranking cultivators and dared not consider the consequences.
• Hu Yan praised Xu Yao for gaining Chen Changsheng's guidance, then sternly ordered her to trust him and stay out of the plot's investigation.
• Ma Ling'er questioned Ma Hu about the lack of action against the conspirators, and he refused to answer, telling her to ask Chen Changsheng.
• Chen Changsheng found Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er looking troubled, comforted them, and urged them to act like future Beacons of Light.
• Chen Changsheng gave Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er a cup of tea's time to recover their confidence, threatening to behead them if they failed.

Chen Changsheng tested Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er by threatening them and Ma Hu unless they showed the right attitude toward traitors. After they condemned the traitors, he explained that they had to judge people by their allegiance and treat anyone opposing their side as an enemy.

• Chen Changsheng threatened to kill Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er if they could not give him a satisfying answer before his hourglass ran out.
• Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er offered to submit a Proof of Allegiance and kill those who had colluded with the Wilds, but Chen Changsheng remained silent.
• Jian Fei tried to explain the situation, while Chen Changsheng warned Ma Hu that he would die too if the women failed to answer.
• Ma Ling'er and Xu Yao drew their swords to defend Ma Hu, then condemned the traitors as the hourglass nearly ran out.
• Xu Yao and Ma Ling'er denounced the traitors, and Chen Changsheng stopped the countdown and said their answer satisfied him.
• Jian Fei explained that their position required hatred for traitors, and Chen Changsheng declared that anyone who opposed them was an enemy, never innocent.