Chapter Summaries

Gongsun Huaiyu returned to request reinforcements for the desperate front lines, while the Four Great Sects pursued clues about the Enlightenment Tree. Cowherd revealed that he had tricked them into searching for a hidden remnant, then prepared to send Xiao Hei into the investigation.

• Gongsun Huaiyu scolded Zi Ping and Yin Qi over their conduct and asked Hu Tudou, Su Wan'er, and the others to reinforce the front lines, insisting that Sir not learn the truth about the danger.
• Jiang Yongnian told the Four Great Sects that Qingyang Sect had a dangerous aptitude-improving treasure and recited a cryptic phrase his father had repeated.
• The Four Great Sects interpreted Jiang Yongnian's words as a clue to a hidden remnant and set off to investigate a location between two marked points.
• A servant memorized the three locations on the map and credited the Undertaker with clever tricks.
• Cowherd explained to the unscrupulous merchant that he had planted the false clue to make the Four Great Sects reveal the location he wanted, then said Xiao Hei would make an appearance.

Jian Fei objected to Chen Changsheng's plan to use the group as bait and urged them to flee rather than kill a traitor from the Eight Desolations Nine Regions. Chen Changsheng admitted he had intended to expose them to draw out the Four Directions Continent's experts, and Su You chose to stay, asking Chen Changsheng to witness his decision and arrange a meeting with his master.

• Ma Ling'er told the group they had three months before they were to welcome the traitor at the World Lord Assembly, then asked them to choose whether to flee or try to kill him.
• Jian Fei alone voted to flee, arguing that Chen Changsheng had used them as bait and that attacking the traitor would likely get them killed.
• The others voted to kill the traitor, and Jian Fei angrily insisted he would confront Chen Changsheng about the plan.
• Chen Changsheng and Fu Yao appeared, and Chen Changsheng confirmed that he had always intended to use the group as bait to draw out the Four Directions Continent's experts.
• Chen Changsheng offered to help anyone who wanted to leave the Central Region, but warned that staying would lead to war, with Ye Feng as Su You's first enemy.
• Su You chose to stay and asked Chen Changsheng to bear witness and let him see his master.

Chen Changsheng arranged final farewells for the young cultivators who would face a dangerous mission, then appointed Nalan Fuyao to guide their cultivation for a year while he sought a way to delay the enemy. He and Bai Ze worried that a year might not be enough to prepare them for the Four Directions Continent’s coming crisis.

• Chen Changsheng connected Su You with the Old Celestial Master, who blessed Su You’s love for Ye Hong and told him Dragon Tiger Mountain would always welcome her.
• Xu Yao said goodbye to Xu Hu, who urged her to stay alive, and Ma Ling'er reconciled with Ma Hu over her past at the Sword Qi Great Wall.
• Gui Daoran and his fellow disciples bid farewell to their master, while Chen Changsheng stopped Jiang Yongnian from calling his father and offered to send Jian Fei away; Jian Fei chose to stay and fight.
• Chen Changsheng said the traitors would arrive in about a year and left Nalan Fuyao to train the group, revealing that his younger brother was Nalan Xingde.
• Chen Changsheng asked Bai Ze whether he had found a place to trap the Four Directions Continent’s strongest fighters for a year, then explained that the young cultivators had to grow stronger before Xu Hu and the others left to seek aid.

Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze discussed the risks of their plans and Chen Changsheng’s decision to have Fu Yao teach the youngsters. Fu Yao introduced them to Evil Cultivator methods, and Jian Fei warned Xu Yao that they would now have to navigate the Cultivation World with less protection.

• Chen Changsheng explained to Bai Ze why he had entrusted Fu Yao with teaching the youngsters, and Bai Ze agreed to accompany him while refusing to get involved in their feud.
• Fu Yao dismissed Jiang Yongnian and told Xu Yao and the others that he would teach them as a top-tier Evil Cultivator.
• Fu Yao explained that Evil Cultivators pursued rapid gains by exhausting their potential, then gave the group a Divine Realm cultivation art on a Jade Slip.
• Jian Fei studied and copied the art, explaining that experts rarely shared their insights and warning that Fu Yao might be plotting against them.
• Jian Fei told Xu Yao that Chen Changsheng’s need to bring in an outsider meant they would soon have to make their own way, leaving Xu Yao questioning whether they had not already been doing so.

Jian Fei warned Xu Yao and the others that Four Directions Continent could capture and torment them while Mister faced overwhelming danger in his attempt to seize the enemy’s root. As the group confronted their grim prospects, Jian Fei affirmed that they would have to rely on themselves and said he did not regret fighting beside them.

• Jian Fei explained to Xu Yao that their earlier hardships had been protected training, unlike the peril they would face if Four Directions Continent discovered their identities.
• Jian Fei warned the group that capture could bring them fates worse than death and argued that Mister might be unable to protect them while pursuing Four Directions Continent’s root.
• Xu Yao insisted that Mister would survive, but Jian Fei said even the strongest person could be killed and that the group would have to rely on themselves.
• Jian Fei handed out copied Jade Slips and arranged to exchange cultivation insights with everyone three days later.
• Jian Fei described how each member contributed to the team and declared that fighting shoulder to shoulder with them was an honor he would never regret.

Chen Xiang arrived to watch over Xu Yao and Jian Fei, whose rapid cultivation had brought them to bottlenecks. He explained that their sword problems came from unsettled minds and warned that Fu Yao’s Evil Cultivator method consumed vital energy and shortened lives.

• Xu Yao and Jian Fei struggled to advance despite their rapid progress, and Xu Yao worried about facing certain death in a year.
• Chen Xiang appeared and told them their sword practice was hindered by unsettled minds, advising Jian Fei to cultivate attachments and Xu Yao to focus wholly on the True Meaning of the sword.
• Chen Xiang explained that he had come to help his old man, who had sent him to keep an eye on Xu Yao and the others.
• Chen Xiang admitted he feared the Azure Dragon Sect’s sword expert and said Xu Yao’s Sword Immortal Body could eventually let her surpass him.
• Chen Xiang told Jian Fei that Fu Yao’s Evil Cultivator method consumed vital energy and could shorten their lives by thousands of years.
• Jian Fei searched the Four Directions Continent’s history and discovered that its Immortal King Realm powerhouses had never lived past five thousand years.

Chen Xiang explained to Xu Yao and Jian Fei that good and evil depended on whether cultivators harmed others for their own benefit, then urged them to keep training for the challenge ahead. Six months later, Fu Yao began teaching the group about the Immortal Venerable Realm and its connection to the Great Dao.

• Chen Xiang explained that the Four Directions Continent’s rapid cultivation methods depleted cultivators’ vital essence, and that good and evil depended on whether they harmed others for their own benefit.
• Xu Yao asked whether her father would extend his life by harming others, and Chen Xiang said he trusted Marshal Xu’s character.
• Chen Xiang told Jian Fei and Xu Yao to seek him out with questions, and advised them to consider Fu Yao’s guidance.
• Over the next three months, Xu Yao’s cultivation advanced rapidly despite her frequent visits to drink with Chen Xiang, while Jian Fei barely reached the Immortal Venerable Realm threshold by the six-month deadline.
• Fu Yao criticized the group’s slow comprehension, welcomed Chen Xiang into the lesson, and explained that Immortal Venerable cultivators focused on communicating with the Great Dao.

Fu Yao explained how the group could enter the Immortal Venerable Realm by recovering or borrowing a Dao, then advised Chen Xiang to start his cultivation anew. After Chen Xiang restarted, he clarified the two paths open to the others and left them to choose between borrowed power and their own Dao.

• Fu Yao told the group that reincarnated cultivators could recover their former Dao, while others could borrow someone else's to advance quickly.
• Fu Yao persuaded Chen Xiang to restart his cultivation and promised to protect him while he was vulnerable.
• Chen Xiang shed his cultivation and Dao, then absorbed the preserved cultivation after Fu Yao left.
• Chen Xiang explained that borrowing another's Dao had caused his Immortal King bottleneck and that restarting would make progress more efficient.
• Chen Xiang outlined the group's choices between borrowing a Dao for a more predictable path or pursuing their own Dao with an uncertain ceiling, then handed Xu Yao the sphere containing the stripped Dao threads.

Xu Yao and the others rejected Fu Yao’s warning and continued their cultivation, while Chen Changsheng explained that he had deliberately held Chen Xiang back to force him to find his own path. A mission to receive a traitor at the border appeared to be a false alarm, but the Four Directions Grand Array activated, and Baili Changkong received an urgent message.

• Xu Yao and the others left Fu Yao, refusing to abandon their own paths because of his warning.
• Fu Yao’s clone spoke with Chen Changsheng, who explained that he had kept Chen Xiang stuck in the middle of the Immortal King Realm to temper him and make him pursue technique.
• Chen Changsheng predicted that all the young cultivators except Xu Yao and Jian Fei could surpass Fu Yao, though Fu Yao doubted they would reach the Ninth Grade threshold.
• Baili Changkong asked Ma Ling'er and the others to accompany him to the Four Directions Continent border to receive a traitor from the Eight Desolations Nine Regions.
• The reception array produced no visitor, but the Four Directions Grand Array activated, and Baili Changkong, Sima Lan, and Ye Feng received an urgent message from the Black Tortoise Sect.

Ye Feng and Baili Changkong let Xu Yao and the others leave after their identities were exposed, and the group’s departure marked a break between former friends. War erupted between the Four Directions Continent and the Heavenly Court, leaving Xu Yao and the others isolated while Jiang Yongnian reflected on his own path.

• Ye Feng revealed that he knew the group came from the Eight Desolations Nine Regions, named their identities, severed ties with them, and promised a future battle.
• Baili Changkong also let Xu Yao and the others leave, and Sima Lan asked Jian Fei whether he had ever liked her before the group flew away.
• Baili Changkong and Ye Feng reflected on how they trusted the newcomers more than each other and envied their freedom and uprightness.
• After Xu Yao and the others’ identities were exposed, war broke out between the Heavenly Court and the Four Directions Continent, and the Heavenly Court’s repeated assaults ended in defeat.
• Xu Hu ordered the Heavenly Court to treat those trapped in the Four Directions Continent as ordinary soldiers, inspiring its forces to fight a prolonged war of attrition and leaving Xu Yao and the others isolated.
• Outside the Four Directions Continent, Chen Changsheng told Jiang Yongnian to follow his own path rather than compare himself with Xu Yao and the others.

As the war spread across the Four Directions Continent, Chen Changsheng persuaded Zhang Zhen to accept a dangerous mission to seize the God King Cauldron in exchange for treatment that could extend his life. He then asked Fu Yao to act as his double, and Fu Yao demanded to learn Chen Changsheng’s secret to immortality before he died.

• Jiang Yongnian thanked Chen Changsheng for helping him accept that his path differed from the others, then asked whether Chen Changsheng would save them; Chen Changsheng said they could only save themselves.
• During the first two years of the war, Xu Yao and his companions killed seventy-eight geniuses, while Gui Daoran, Su You, and Swordsman Chen Xiang faced severe danger in the Four Directions Continent.
• Chen Changsheng told Zhang Zhen to seize the God King Cauldron while many powerful enemies were occupied elsewhere, but Zhang Zhen initially refused because his body remained fragile.
• Chen Changsheng offered Zhang Zhen Immortal Tears and explained that Zhang Zhen would still need further treatment within ten years; Zhang Zhen accepted the mission and agreed to keep earning Points.
• Chen Changsheng asked Fu Yao to impersonate him, and Fu Yao agreed on the condition that Chen Changsheng reveal his secret to immortality before Fu Yao died.

Fu Yao departed after telling Chen Changsheng he would wait for him at the end of time, and Chen Changsheng reflected on the regret of losing an enemy who understood him. Meanwhile, the Four Directions Continent faced a fifteen-year war and manhunt, ending with its forces calling Xu Yao out to face his final journey.

• Fu Yao changed his appearance to match Chen Changsheng, said he would wait for him at the end of time, and vanished.
• Chen Changsheng asked the system why he regretted Fu Yao's death, and the system explained that Fu Yao had understood him and had chosen to die to kindle Zi Ping's desire for immortality.
• A White Heavenly Soul bearer stole the Azure Dragon Sect's God King Cauldron and escaped after Tantai Mingmie defeated him, shaking the Four Directions Continent's beliefs about Heavenly Souls.
• "Chen Changsheng" ambushed the Central Region Realm Lord, killed two Immortal King Third Grade experts, and fought the Realm Lord for an hour before escaping with a lock of his hair.
• The Four Directions Continent hunted "Chen Changsheng" for fifteen years while battling the Heavenly Court, eventually driving Xu Yao and his allies into a dead end.
• The Realm Lord called Xu Yao out and declared that he had come to see him off on his final journey.

Xu Yao ignored Ye Feng’s taunts and chose survival over risking another rescue, while Fu Yao disguised as Chen Changsheng surrendered to Luo Kai before revealing herself. The Four Directions War began to dissipate as powerful sword qi erupted beside the Central Region.

• Xu Yao watched Ye Feng from hiding and stayed concealed after Ye Feng announced that the Undertaker had been surrounded.
• Xu Yao waited a month before leaving the valley, then chose another hiding place instead of seeking information or rushing to help her allies.
• Luo Kai surrounded the disguised Fu Yao and threatened Bai Ze and the other children to force her to surrender.
• Fu Yao agreed to surrender, then revealed her identity as Bai Ze used a Big Bone Club to escape his captors and rejoined her.
• The Four Directions War began to dissipate, and powerful sword qi erupted near the Central Region.

Chen Changsheng revealed how he had spent millennia preparing to defeat the four old men and uncovered the meteorite behind the Four Directions Continent’s Heavenly Soul System. After killing the men with a combination of curses, gu, and poison, he declared that the continent would soon become history.

• Chen Changsheng told the four wounded old men that he had lured them into conflict and allowed himself to be captured to buy the Eight Desolations Nine Regions time to recover.
• He explained that he had investigated the Heavenly Soul System, escaped imprisonment, and learned from hidden survivors that a meteorite had awakened the Four Directions Continent’s ancestors.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that the old men had buried the meteorite underground and used Dragon Veins and Earth Qi to spread its power across the continent.
• He told the old men he had discovered their hiding place five years earlier and secretly weakened them with a bloodline curse, gu, and poison.
• Four golden silkworms crawled from the old men’s foreheads, fused together, and left Chen Changsheng beside their corpses as he declared the Four Directions Continent would become history.

Chen Changsheng forcibly removed the Seven-Colored Boulder, destroying the Four Directions Continent’s ability to awaken Heavenly Souls, while Luo Kai fled to capture Chen Xiang. At the mountain peak, Chen Xiang prepared to face Tantai Chuixue in a sword duel and received the Old Sword Strip from the Sword Spirit.

• Chen Changsheng endured the Defense Arrays and lifted the Seven-Colored Boulder into the System Space.
• Chen Changsheng left four graves marked with "Undertaker" and escaped through the Tri-Color Teleportation Array.
• Luo Kai ordered the pursuit and headed to capture Chen Xiang as a chance to threaten the Undertaker.
• Chen Xiang and Tantai Chuixue agreed to settle the outcome of their unfinished duel from three thousand years earlier.
• The Sword Spirit sent the Old Sword Strip to Chen Xiang, then entered it so he could face Tantai Chuixue with a suitable weapon.

Jian Fei met Sima Lan after the Four Directions Grand Array vanished and urged her to abandon the Four Directions Continent’s old order and join Chen Changsheng’s New Era. He warned that Chen Changsheng’s Killing Game was already set and that Zhang Zhen’s strength signaled the collapse of the existing system.

• Tantai Chuixue and Chen Xiang faced each other with swords, preparing to decide their contest through life and death.
• Jian Fei reflected on how fifteen years of battles and escapes had helped him overcome his inferiority and become a true sword cultivator.
• Jian Fei embraced Sima Lan, thanked her for secretly helping him, and asked her to return with him to the Eight Desolations Nine Regions.
• Sima Lan admitted she loved Jian Fei but refused to abandon her home or let its people die.
• Jian Fei revealed that the Undertaker was Chen Changsheng and warned Sima Lan that she would die at the hands of her own people if she refused to turn back.
• Jian Fei described Zhang Zhen’s victories over Gui Daoran, Su You, and Chen Changsheng, arguing that Zhang Zhen’s White Heavenly Soul heralded the collapse of the Four Directions Continent’s old order.

Jian Fei and Sima Lan reconciled and agreed to return to the Eight Desolations Nine Regions, while Ma Ling'er declared her determination to pursue Jian Fei. Baili Changkong entrusted Sima Lan to Jian Fei, then challenged him to a duel to test his growth.

• Jian Fei asked Sima Lan to return with him, and she agreed to draw her sword for him and help deal with Ma Ling'er.
• Ma Ling'er told Baili Changkong she would pursue Jian Fei despite his relationship with Sima Lan and would not regret her choice.
• Baili Changkong revealed Jian Fei and Sima Lan had arrived, and Sima Lan urged him to leave the Four Directions Continent with them.
• Baili Changkong gave Jian Fei a Jade Slip with an address for Su You, Ye Feng, and the others, explaining he had watched Jian Fei for fifteen years before entrusting Sima Lan to him.
• Baili Changkong challenged Jian Fei, who opened his Sword Box and launched Sword One, Dragon's Roar.

Jian Fei fought Baili Changkong with his four sword techniques and earned Baili's recognition as a contender for the title of foremost in swordsmanship. Baili returned the Dragon's Roar Sword, gave Jian Fei his Wind Chaser Sword, and vanished after bidding farewell to Sima Lan.

• Jian Fei used his first three sword techniques and combined the Rainfall and Stars Swords into a starry dragon that fought Baili Changkong to a standstill.
• At Baili Changkong's urging, Jian Fei used Sword Four, Seven Wonders, and the Seven Orifices Sword joined the dragon's scales as it pierced Baili's body.
• Baili Changkong returned the Dragon's Roar Sword to Jian Fei and gave him his Wind Chaser Sword, engraved with the Wind Chaser Swordplay.
• Baili Changkong praised Jian Fei's potential to become the foremost in swordsmanship and said the Sword God's Teacher might explain his path.
• Baili Changkong told his junior sister Sima Lan to live well, then vanished, leaving her in tears.

Ye Feng and Baili Changkong sacrificed themselves to help Su You’s group escape while Chen Xiang and Tantai Chuixue fought to a draw. As Ye Gaofei threatened the fugitives and Chen Changsheng invoked the Tiger Guard, an armored figure carrying its banner approached the surrounded group.

• Ye Feng gave Su You a Jade Slip and stayed behind with Baili Changkong so Su You, Jian Fei, and the others could escape; Su You knocked out the grieving Ye Hong and carried her away.
• Chen Xiang and Tantai Chuixue fought a sword duel without divine power, matching each other across several realms before preparing to continue with a decisive clash.
• Ye Gaofei defeated Ye Feng and Baili Changkong and prepared to kill them, then threatened to pursue Su You’s group as well.
• Chen Changsheng appeared as an external incarnation and challenged Ye Gaofei, claiming the Tiger Guard could stop him.
• At the border, Jian Fei’s group was surrounded by Immortal King experts when a Bronze-Armored figure carrying a battered Tiger Guard banner approached.

The First-Generation Tiger Braves Commander protected Jian Fei and the others while Chen Changsheng confronted Ye Gaofei with a mysterious creation. Chen Xiang defeated Tantai Chuixue and declared that he had severed his opponent’s future, leaving his name destined for the history of swordsmanship.

• A Four Directions Continent elder recognized the tattered flag as belonging to the First-Generation Tiger Braves, and the Bronze Armor planted it among Jian Fei and the others to protect them.
• The Tiger Brave Commander faced eight Immortal Kings and enveloped them in a golden ocean containing a massive azure lotus and three Nine-colored Lotus Seeds.
• Chen Changsheng told Ye Gaofei he had called the Tiger Brave Commander back, then summoned an inscrutable figure through a Spatial Rift and declared that his opponents would die.
• Tantai Chuixue pierced Chen Xiang with a sword strike that carved a ravine across the Four Directions Continent, but Chen Xiang later split Tantai Chuixue into eight pieces and won their duel.
• Xu Yao checked Chen Xiang’s injuries as he celebrated severing Tantai Chuixue’s future and vowed that the name Chen Xiang would never be forgotten.