Chapter Summaries

Ning Chen investigated the Four Extremes Realm and suspected the Realm Lord’s Longevity Banquet was a plot to draw sect leaders away while someone seized Nine Heavens Mountain’s Gilded Feathered Halberd. As Meng Xuanji prepared to attend the banquet, Ning Chen encountered Chang Jiangli, who sensed he was dangerous, and left Yun Shisan worrying that Nine Heavens Mountain would be unsafe.

• Yun Shisan delivered the Realm Lord’s invitation to Meng Xuanji, who asked Ning Chen whether she should attend the Longevity Banquet and later allowed him to leave Jade Mechanism Peak for up to five hours.
• Ning Chen searched the scripture repository for information about the Four Extremes Realm’s sects and learned the powers of their four treasures, including Nine Heavens Mountain’s Gilded Feathered Halberd.
• Ning Chen suspected the Realm Lord and Calamity King planned to use the banquet to draw the sect leaders away while taking the Gilded Feathered Halberd, which might break the boundary between realms.
• Meng Xuanji watched Ning Chen while privately suspecting that the Longevity Banquet was a conspiracy by the Realm Lord and Calamity King, though she did not know their plan to invade the Divine Continent.
• Chang Jiangli struck at Ning Chen as they passed, saying she could sense he was dangerous, but Ning Chen avoided her blow and continued on his way.
• Ning Chen returned Yun Shisan’s jade token, asked about the unknown attacker who had stormed Nine Heavens Mountain, and warned that the mountain might be unsafe after Meng Xuanji and the other venerables left.

As the Nine Heavens Sect Leader and the Venerables prepared for an attack during the Longevity Banquet, Ning Chen continued cultivating on Jade Mechanism Peak. Li Huarong and Luan Fengchen later attacked Nine Heavens Mountain, where Ning Chen revealed his strength and met Luan Fengchen before he departed.

• The Nine Heavens Sect Leader summoned the four Venerables to discuss the danger of leaving Nine Heavens Mountain exposed during the Longevity Banquet.
• Ning Chen advanced to the second rank of the Acquired Realm, and Meng Xuanji sensed his breakthrough while the Venerables discussed the possible targets of their enemy.
• After the Venerables left, Li Huarong shattered the mountain-protecting formation and fought past the Nine Heavens disciples and Chang Jiangli.
• Four golden avatars created by the Venerables struck Li Huarong, but Luan Fengchen appeared and dispersed them with his Rainbow Blade.
• Ning Chen wounded Li Huarong with his sword intent, then met Luan Fengchen on Jade Mechanism Peak before Luan Fengchen departed.

Prince Yan led A'man into the deadly western frontier storm while Nine Heavens Mountain and Flower Cherishing Palace faced the threat of Longevity Palace after the Ascension Realm was destroyed. Meng Xuanji brought Ning Chen to Flower Cherishing Palace to discuss an alliance, leaving him under the palace master's scrutiny.

• Prince Yan shielded A'man with the Azure-Crimson Twin Swords and the War-Stopping Sword as the storm wounded him.
• The Nine Heavens elders examined the crippled Li Huarong, and Meng Xuanji suspected Ning Chen had been behind the mysterious expert's intervention.
• News arrived that the Ascension Realm had been annihilated and its Yin-Yang Jade seized; Ning Chen suggested a traitor had helped bring about its fall.
• Ning Chen warned Yun Shisan that the Ascension Realm had likely been betrayed, deepening Yun Shisan's suspicions about him.
• The Cherished Flower Palace Master invited Meng Xuanji to discuss Longevity Palace, and Meng Xuanji took Ning Chen with her to Flower Cherishing Palace.
• The Cherished Flower Palace Master recognized Ning Chen and watched him as he quietly drank tea.

At the Flower Cherishing Palace, Ning Chen’s unusual aura made the Palace Master wary as she delayed discussing an alliance with Meng Xuanji. He secretly visited the ruined Ascension Realm, met Luan Fengchen, and returned to find the women preparing to discuss the alliance while concealing their suspicions from him.

• While Ning Chen drank tea, Meng Xuanji and the Cherished Flower Palace Master noticed his aura briefly revealed power beyond that of a second-grade Acquired Realm cultivator, so the Palace Master postponed the alliance discussion.
• Wang You brought Ning Chen floral dew, and he spoke to her about sorrow-forgetting grass and his mother before she left.
• After Meng Xuanji warned him to be careful of Ning Chen, he secretly left the Flower Cherishing Palace and flew to the devastated Ascension Realm.
• Ning Chen met Luan Fengchen at the Ascension Realm, learned that Luan Fengchen had repaid a debt to the Calamity King, and criticized the faith others placed in the sacred land.
• Meng Xuanji confronted Ning Chen about his nighttime absence, but Wang You summoned them to the Blue Flower Hall before she could press him further.
• The Cherished Flower Palace Master began discussing an alliance with Meng Xuanji, while Ning Chen suspected they were putting on an act in front of him.

Ning Chen watched the Longevity Palace attack Nine Heavens Mountain and saw the Four Extremes Sacred Lands intervene, while Wang You revealed her Dao Body after recognizing his Xiantian cultivation. The Calamity King withdrew when he heard of trouble in the Longevity Pool, leaving Ning Chen to weigh the Sacred Lands’ role in the looming conflict.

• A golden messenger summoned Meng Xuanji from Blue Flower Hall, and Wang You urged Ning Chen to return to Nine Heavens Mountain after sensing his worry.
• The Calamity King demanded Nine Heavens Mountain surrender the Gilded Feathered Halberd, then attacked when its headmaster refused.
• Meng Xuanji arrived and confronted the Calamity King, who revealed the Reincarnation Mirror as the Four Extremes Sacred Emissary came to stop him.
• Luan Fengchen appeared to join the defense, but the Calamity King ordered his forces to retreat after hearing that something had changed in the Longevity Pool.
• Ning Chen returned to Flower Cherishing Palace and discovered that Wang You had a Dao Body and had recognized his Xiantian realm.
• Ning Chen considered whether the Four Extremes Sacred Lands and the Longevity Palace planned to unify the realm through force or the Sacred Lands’ authority.

Ning Chen waited outside Nine Heavens Mountain, ambushed and captured the Four Extremes Sacred Emissary, then returned to Flower Cherishing Palace. After sparring with Wang Yu, he sensed a familiar aura and Wang You led her sister away, bidding him farewell.

• Ning Chen waited six nights before following the Four Extremes Sacred Emissary and confronting him outside Nine Heavens Mountain.
• Ning Chen defeated the Four Extremes Sacred Emissary with his sword and Scroll of Earth, shattered his meridians, and carried him away.
• Ning Chen returned to Flower Cherishing Palace at dawn, where Wang You served him and Wang Yu dragged him to the training grounds for a spar.
• Ning Chen disarmed Wang Yu with a wooden sword despite her suppressed cultivation, leaving the Flower Cherishing Palace disciples baffled.
• Ning Chen sensed a familiar aura, and Wang You led Wang Yu away after bidding him farewell.

Ning Chen watched Longevity Palace’s assault on Nine Heavens Mountain fail, then confronted the wounded Meng Xuanji when he feared her rise to the Three Calamities Realm could endanger the Divine Continent. He spared her cultivation after she promised never to join forces with the Calamity King, and left as Longevity Palace’s forces retreated.

• Meng Xuanji took Ning Chen back to Nine Heavens Mountain, where Yun Shisan worried that the missing Sacred Emissary would leave the sect vulnerable to Longevity Palace.
• Six innate experts broke through the Nine Heavens Grand Formation, and the Calamity King blocked the Cherished Flower Palace Master from joining the battle.
• Meng Xuanji and the four Venerables defeated Longevity Palace’s attackers with the Gilded Feathered Halberd, though Meng Xuanji was badly injured.
• Ning Chen followed the surviving Longevity Palace experts as they fled, then returned and considered whether to cripple Meng Xuanji before she could reach the Three Calamities Realm.
• Ning Chen destroyed Meng Xuanji’s Life-Death Severance Seal and wounded her again, but spared her cultivation after she swore she would never ally with the Calamity King.

Ning Chen sought a suitable sword in Qingli City and agreed to retrieve Azure Jade Wood for the Earthly Artisan in exchange for a blade. After quickly obtaining the wood from Yu Yangtian in the Black Stone Sea, Ning Chen returned to the manor, and the Earthly Artisan took one-third of it and prepared to forge him a sword.

• Ning Chen searched the Heavenly Artisan Manor for a sword but found nothing that suited him.
• Ning Chen visited the Earthly Artisan, chose a dark bluish-black sword, and agreed to obtain Azure Jade Wood from the Black Stone Sea in exchange for it.
• Ning Chen presented a Four Extremes Sacred Token to Yu Yangtian, who harvested one Azure Jade Wood and handed it over.
• Ning Chen returned to the Earthly Artisan with the wood, and the craftsman agreed to use two-thirds of it to forge him another sword.
• The Earthly Artisan took Ning Chen out of Qingli City to seek an old friend whose help was needed to forge the Azure Jade Wood.

The Earthly Artisan Manor Lord and Old Man Li forged a sword from the Azure Jade Wood in the Lihuo Fire, and Ning Chen bonded with the finished weapon, naming it Zhiming. After returning to Qingli City, Ning Chen learned that the Sacred Lands had discovered the Four Extremes Sacred Emissary’s disappearance and was searching for him.

• The Earthly Artisan Manor Lord brought Ning Chen to Old Man Li and borrowed the Lihuo Fire to forge a sword from the Azure Jade Wood.
• Old Man Li intensified the flames while the Earthly Artisan Manor Lord hammered the wood, forging it for nineteen days as news spread that the Sacred Lands were searching for Ning Chen and the missing emissary.
• When the Sword Embryo appeared, Ning Chen added his blood, and the Earthly Artisan Manor Lord completed the final tempering.
• The finished sword fused into Ning Chen’s arm, raising his cultivation to the Fifth-Rank realm, and Ning Chen named it Zhiming.
• The Earthly Artisan Manor Lord and Ning Chen returned to Qingli City, where Ning Chen learned the Sacred Lands had exposed the emissary’s disappearance.
• The Earthly Artisan Manor Lord asked whether Ning Chen had feared being betrayed, and Ning Chen said he trusted him.

Ning Chen agreed to help Earthly Artisan find Blazing Sun Iron in exchange for a favor, while Li Youwei was tasked with searching for the young Xiantian expert sought by the Sacred Lands. Ning Chen then provoked the Black Stone Sea’s guardians with a sword strike and fled as they pursued him.

• Li Yan ordered his younger sister, Li Youwei, to find the young Xiantian expert wanted by the Sacred Lands.
• Ning Chen revealed that his cultivation appeared to be only Postnatal Fifth-Rank and agreed to help Earthly Artisan find Blazing Sun Iron.
• Earthly Artisan warned Ning Chen about Li Youwei’s strange temperament and arranged for her to assist him.
• Li Youwei accepted Li Yan’s order to search for the expert and bring him to the emperor if she found him.
• Ning Chen tested his Ink-Green Longsword, then went to the Black Stone Sea and fired Sword Qi at it.
• Two guardians shouted at Ning Chen and pursued him as he turned and ran.

Ning Chen met Eldest Princess Li Youwei, hoping to gain her help, but their private dinner was interrupted by Duke Muyang, who attacked him out of jealousy. Li Youwei drove Duke Muyang away and let Ning Chen stay in her residence, where she continued teasing him.

• Ning Chen returned to the Earthly Artisan Manor after losing the Sacred Land experts and agreed to meet Li Youwei at her invitation.
• Li Youwei questioned Ning Chen over dinner and teased him when she noticed his discomfort with her advances.
• A palace maid announced Duke Muyang’s arrival, and he confronted Li Youwei and demanded to know who Ning Chen was.
• Duke Muyang attacked Ning Chen, but Li Youwei intercepted his strike and ordered him to leave her residence.
• Li Youwei bandaged Ning Chen’s injured hand and offered him a room for the night because Duke Muyang had threatened him.
• Li Youwei showed Ning Chen to a guest room and teased him again for seeming afraid of her.

Prince Yan fought the Calamity King and three Sacred Lands experts to protect A'man, killing two of them after she was wounded. The Calamity King retreated, while Ning Chen felt A'man's injury from afar and the Four Extremes Realm Lord ordered the Longevity Palace to regroup.

• The Calamity King arrived with Xuantian, Xuankong, and Xuanlie and demanded that Prince Yan surrender the source of the Four Extremes and help open the passage between the two realms.
• Prince Yan fought the four experts while A'man protected herself with the Sand Sword, but Xuankong and Xuanlie broke through her defenses and wounded her.
• Ning Chen collapsed from sudden chest pain at the Eldest Princess's residence and realized that something had happened to A'man.
• Enraged by A'man's injury, Prince Yan unleashed Three Swords Share the Heavens, Life and Death Bound by Covenant and killed Xuankong and Xuanlie, forcing the Calamity King and Xuantian to retreat.
• Prince Yan treated A'man while Ning Chen concealed his alarm from Li Youwei, and Xuantian reported the defeat to the Four Extremes Realm Lord.
• The Four Extremes Realm Lord assigned Yu Yangtian, Xingyun, and Buyu to the Calamity King and told him to leave the young innate expert alone and keep Meng Xuanji alive if possible.

Ning Chen met Emperor Li Yan and claimed that his Xiantian Realm master would help retrieve the Blazing Sun Iron, then warned Earthly Artisan and Xiaoyu to maintain the pretense. Li Youwei learned that a new Three Calamities expert had defeated the Calamity King’s forces, raising the possibility that the Lihuo Dynasty could escape the Sacred Lands’ control.

• Ning Chen accompanied Li Youwei to meet Emperor Li Yan, while Duke Muyang threatened him on the way and Li Youwei warned that Duke Muyang controlled much of the dynasty’s military power.
• Li Yan asked whether Ning Chen could deal with the Xiantian Realm expert beside Heavenly Artisan, and Ning Chen said his master would act if they found the Blazing Sun Iron.
• Li Yan arranged to meet Ning Chen’s supposed master at Earthly Artisan’s residence the next day, and Li Youwei sent a shadow to follow Ning Chen after he left.
• Ning Chen returned to Earthly Artisan Manor and told Earthly Artisan and Xiaoyu to pretend that he had a Xiantian Realm master.
• Li Youwei received a secret report that a new Three Calamities expert had routed the Calamity King’s forces, and she considered what such a power could mean for the Lihuo Dynasty.

Li Yan met the hidden Venerable Fan at Earthly Artisan Manor, while Ning Chen taught Xiaoyu a sword technique and later lured the Holy Land experts away from Black Stone Sea. Ning Chen killed Gou Yuan and faced Yuwen Xiao in a duel over the Azure Jade Woods, with their Mother-Son Swords locked against Ning Chen’s twin swords.

• Li Yan and Li Youwei met Venerable Fan, whose strength the accompanying old man confirmed was close to the Third Xiantian Tribulation.
• Ning Chen demonstrated a sword strike for Xiaoyu, accidentally demolished part of the courtyard, and left the boy to practice with an Azure Edge Sword.
• Ning Chen repeatedly attacked Black Stone Sea to draw its Holy Land experts away, then lured Gou Yuan into a separate fight and killed him.
• Ning Chen returned to Black Stone Sea and confronted Yuwen Xiao, who guarded the two Azure Jade Woods and wielded Mother-Son Swords.
• Ning Chen summoned a Snow-Colored Longsword and crossed swords with Yuwen Xiao in a perilous contest between the long and short blades.

Ning Chen met with Li Yan and claimed his master could retrieve the Blazing Sun Iron, arranging a meeting at Earthly Artisan's residence for the next day. As Li Youwei and Duke Muyang's people watched him, a secret report revealed the emergence of a new Three Calamities expert whose defeat of the Calamity King's forces could reshape the Lihuo Dynasty's fortunes.

• Ning Chen accompanied Li Youwei to meet Li Yan, while Duke Muyang threatened him on the way to the palace.
• Ning Chen told Li Yan that his Xiantian Realm master would retrieve the Blazing Sun Iron and agreed to introduce him at Earthly Artisan's residence the next day.
• Li Youwei sent a shadow to watch Ning Chen, and Ning Chen sensed that both her agent and one of Duke Muyang's people were following him.
• Ning Chen warned Earthly Artisan and Xiaoyu to maintain his story about having a master, then asked them not to reveal it during the emperor's visit.
• Li Youwei received a secret report that the Calamity King had failed to kill a new Three Calamities expert, losing two of his three peerless fighters and leaving another wounded.

Ning Chen learned that Senior and A'man had survived a battle in the Southwest Territory, then set out with Li Youwei to obtain Blazing Sun Iron from Profound Spirit Pavilion. On the journey, he roasted a fish and was reminded of Little Mingyue, but froze when a fair hand reached toward it.

• Li Youwei told Ning Chen that a mysterious azure-robed man had defeated the Calamity King and three experts, and Ning Chen hurried away to search for Senior and A'man.
• Ning Chen found the devastated battlefield and retrieved Cease War, which Senior had left for him.
• The Earthly Artisan told Ning Chen that Blazing Sun Iron was at Profound Spirit Pavilion in the Hulei Dynasty, and Ning Chen traveled there with Li Youwei.
• Li Youwei explained that Profound Spirit Pavilion had announced an exchange of rare materials and that they were seeking only Blazing Sun Iron.
• While camping in the wilderness, Ning Chen caught and roasted a fish, remembering how Little Mingyue used to demand it.
• A fair hand reached toward Ning Chen's roasted fish, and he froze.

Ning Chen and Li Youwei reached Cloudsong City after fighting off a wolf pack and found the major factions gathering at the Profound Spirit Pavilion. As the factions prepared to enter an unknown land said to contain an impure-blooded phoenix, Ning Chen agreed to take the risk despite Li Youwei’s reservations.

• Ning Chen and Li Youwei fought off a wolf pack, with Ning Chen displaying exceptional swordsmanship and Li Youwei helping drive the wolves away.
• After traveling for seven days, Ning Chen and Li Youwei arrived in Cloudsong City and waited near the Profound Spirit Pavilion as powerful factions gathered.
• Ning Chen recognized Sword Enshrined and Wuyou among the visitors, and he warned Li Youwei to be careful of the woman in blue-green robes.
• Four days later, an aura from the Hulei imperial palace appeared at the Profound Spirit Pavilion, where the gathered factions discussed whether to enter an unknown land.
• Li Youwei suggested waiting for another opportunity, but Ning Chen agreed to proceed so he could investigate the legendary phoenix and the Phoenix Blood that might have saved him.

Ning Chen and the other forces traveled to Phoenix Perch Mountain to seek Phoenix Blood, but the mountain’s endless maple forest separated them and unleashed giant birds and a beast tide. As the disciples came under attack, Wuyou secretly brought one of the birds crashing down.

• After several forces chose to risk entering Phoenix Perch Mountain, Ning Chen followed them with Wuyou and Yi Wanrong, while Li Youwei stayed in Cloudcry City.
• Ten days later, the groups entered the vast maple forest together, but its maze-like paths gradually separated them.
• Yi Wanrong flew above the forest to scout and saw several other innate experts take to the air as two enormous strange birds appeared and attacked.
• The five innate experts struggled against the birds until they began to gain the upper hand, while a tide of beasts charged from the forest below.
• The experts landed to protect their disciples, but the birds attacked the weaker fighters, and Wuyou secretly caused one bird to crash into the maple forest.

Ning Chen and the others endured Phoenix Perch Mountain’s beasts before reaching the three Parasol Trees, where a Fire Phoenix rested. When three Ninth-Rank experts attacked it, Wuyou revealed her hidden power and trapped the enraged phoenix.

• Wuyou secretly used the Dao Body’s power to stop two strange birds, while Ning Chen noticed the faint spiritual energy fluctuation.
• Ning Chen killed a giant snake with his sword, then let its surviving half escape after warning it not to attack again.
• The group pressed deeper into Phoenix Perch Mountain as beasts killed many disciples, leaving more than half the original party gone.
• The survivors reached three Parasol Trees and saw a Fire Phoenix resting on the middle tree.
• Three peak Ninth-Rank experts attacked the phoenix and were burned to ashes, prompting the five innate experts to flee with their disciples.
• Wuyou broke free from Yi Wanrong and formed a cage of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy around the enraged Fire Phoenix.

Ning Chen led the enraged Fire Phoenix across the Four Extremes Realm to Longevity Palace, where the Phoenix was imprisoned beneath the Longevity Pool. When the Calamity King blocked the Phoenix from reaching the pool, Ning Chen chose to intervene, and the chapter ended as he attacked with the War-Stopping Sword.

• Ning Chen tried to seize Phoenix Blood, but the Fire Phoenix broke free and pursued him after sensing the Phoenix Blood aura on him.
• Ning Chen used the War-Stopping Sword to escape the Fire Phoenix and to hold it back while it trapped the five Xiantian experts in flames.
• Ning Chen lured the Fire Phoenix toward Longevity Palace, where the Longevity Pool imprisoned another Phoenix beneath Godfall Altar.
• The Calamity King blocked the Fire Phoenix from reaching the pool, and the imprisoned Phoenix cried out as the midnight mist began to return.
• Ning Chen chose to help the Fire Phoenix despite the danger, and it shielded him from the Calamity King's attack as he charged toward Godfall Altar with the War-Stopping Sword.