Recaps

Ye Lin answered questions about sword purity and the place of affection on his path, then struggled to define the sword path’s endpoint. The chapter left him considering how even the greatest cultivators in one realm could be insignificant in a larger world.

• Ye Lin explained that sword purity meant unwavering faith in the sword while learning from many schools and integrating their principles.
• Ye Lin said he would cherish family bonds and affection unless they truly obstructed his Dao, in which case he would cut away the obstruction rather than his capacity for warmth.
• The phantom asked whether the sword path had an endpoint and what gave endless striving meaning, leaving Ye Lin silent.
• Ye Lin reflected that cultivators who reached the summit of one world could still be ordinary in the Star River Cosmos or the Origin Continent.

Ye Lin reflected on the meaning of cultivation and solidified his Dao heart, deciding to seek both the Dao and his heart while cherishing the journey. He answered the phantom’s questions about teaching the Sword Dao and facing death, leaving his philosophy grounded in fate and giving everything his all.

• Ye Lin questioned whether cultivation had meaning when even powerful cultivators could remain ants, then realized he had overlooked the scenery along his path.
• Ye Lin declared that he would use his sword to practice the Dao in his heart and value the process of seeking over strength alone.
• The phantom asked how Ye Lin would pass on his Sword Dao, and Ye Lin said he would follow his own ideas, perhaps guided by fate or a whim.
• Ye Lin thought of his disciples Taiyuan and Ye Buqu and recalled that he had chosen them for different reasons.
• The phantom asked what Ye Lin would do if his Dao vanished the next day, and Ye Lin said he would enjoy the scenery, drink wine, and give everything he had.

In the Origin Continent’s Cloud Heaven Secret Realm, Ye Lin answered the final questions of a sword-dao trial and strengthened his Dao Heart. After the nine questions ended, he waited to learn whether he had passed.

• Ye Lin said cultivators should learn from past sword cultivators while forging a sword dao of their own.
• Ye Lin declared he had no regrets about choosing the sword dao and would pursue it to the end.
• Ye Lin said his sword rang for truth, himself, the Dao, and the sword in his hand.
• The nine questions ended, and Ye Lin sat calmly as he awaited the trial’s result.

After passing the second trial and receiving the Origin’s Sword Dao blessing, Ye Lin entered the final trial, the Void-Slaying Illusory Realm. He easily destroyed its first wave of delusions, but powerful phantom enemies appeared next.

• The sword tower granted Ye Lin the highest recognition and a silver-white sword radiance that strengthened his Sword Dao comprehension and could lend him its power.
• Ye Lin entered the spatial gateway to the Void-Slaying Illusory Realm and found himself in a gray Chaos filled with unsettling whispers.
• The realm formed twisted versions of Ye Lin that attacked his Primordial Spirit and provoked heart demons.
• Ye Lin’s sword heart seed and new sword radiance released Chaos sword light, annihilating the delusional phantoms.
• The gray mist produced powerful phantom sword cultivators and other unknown enemies.

Ye Lin defeated the sword-path phantoms and rejected the illusions in the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm. After he shattered the final trial, the gray Void began to collapse.

• Ye Lin defeated the tyrannical sword cultivator phantom by striking the weakness in its sword flow.
• Ye Lin used Starshift Instant Prison Sword to appear behind the strange swordsman phantom and cut it down.
• Ye Lin endured the steadfast sword cultivator phantom’s attack and destroyed it with a sword strike.
• Ye Lin faced the nameless Sword Saint phantom and overcame its Sword Intent with a sword combining chaos and the pure sword path.
• Ye Lin rejected illusions of the Saint Realm, treasures, and old acquaintances, then shattered them with his heart sword.
• The gray Void trembled and began to contract as Ye Lin watched without changing his expression.

Ye Lin completed the three trials and received the Sword Heart Seal, making him a nominal disciple of the Sword Dao Holy Land. He learned that he could use the seal to visit designated areas of the Holy Land, then asked Cangfeng about the Scripture Depository.

• The Sword Dao origin from the trials strengthened Ye Lin's Chaos Sword Body and formed a sword-shaped mark beside his Sword Heart Seed, completing Void-Slaying Enlightenment.
• Ye Lin returned to the white stone platform, where Cangfeng declared that he had passed all three trials and could become a nominal disciple.
• Cangfeng gave Ye Lin the Sword Heart Seal and explained its privileges, including access to designated areas of the Holy Land and a chance to seek the true inheritance trial at the third heaven of the Quasi-Saint realm.
• Ye Lin learned that the seal let him enter the Holy Land from outside, though he could only visit locations designated by the Holy Land.
• Ye Lin asked Cangfeng what kind of place the Scripture Depository was.

Ye Lin learned that the Scripture Depository held cultivation methods from across the Boundary Sea, including Saint-level methods, but access depended on a disciple’s rank. After returning from the Holy Land, he encountered Yun Qiyue and planned to reach the third level of Quasi-Saint within ten thousand years.

• Cangfeng explained the Scripture Depository’s floors, entry restrictions, and the methods sealed on its thirteenth floor.
• Cangfeng sent Ye Lin back to the reception area and told him to return with the Sword Heart Seal after ten thousand years, when he might reach the third level of Quasi-Saint.
• Ye Lin resolved to cultivate seriously so he could reach the third level of Quasi-Saint within ten thousand years.
• Yun Qiyue met Ye Lin at the reception area and learned he had already become a Quasi-Saint.
• Yun Qiyue left to enter the Holy Land, determined to reach Quasi-Saint herself, while Ye Lin watched her go, deeply troubled.

Ye Lin waited in the Holy Land for Void, unaware that he could have chosen to leave directly, while the Sword Demon chose to return to the secret realm and prepare for a breakthrough. The chapter ended with Cangfeng wondering whether he had forgotten something.

• Ye Lin sat and absorbed what he had gained from the Holy Land, waiting for Void as ten years passed.
• Void found Ye Lin and assumed he had failed the trials because he was still waiting there.
• Ye Lin showed Void the Sword Heart Seal, proving he had succeeded, but Void could not understand why he had returned to the waiting place.
• The Sword Demon asked Cangfeng to send him out of the secret realm so he could break through his cultivation.
• After sending the Sword Demon away, Cangfeng wondered what he had forgotten.

Ye Lin learned that he had been trapped in the Nine Heavens because the Sacred Land Guardian failed to send him out, and Void explained that he had saved him by finding him. Ye Lin offered Void one million jin of Zenith Heaven Divine Source in exchange for his help, telling him to listen afterward.

• Ye Lin confirmed that the Sacred Land Guardian had sent him into the secret realm without asking him anything.
• Void said forty years had passed and explained that he had searched for Ye Lin at the tenth and twentieth years before finding him on this visit.
• Void explained that the Nine Heavens were cut off from heaven and earth, so Ye Lin would have been trapped there permanently without help.
• Void offered to send Ye Lin out of the Nine Heavens in exchange for more glittering golden material.
• Ye Lin threw Void a Spatial Ring and offered him one million jin of Zenith Heaven Divine Source, telling him to listen afterward.

Ye Lin left the Land of Reception with Void, who brought him to the Eighth Heaven and promised to help the others escape. After checking his status and seeing his unchanged fate still ended in death, Ye Lin planned to save his realm advancement opportunity and began exploring the Eighth Heaven.

• Void led Ye Lin out of the Land of Reception, through the Ninth Heaven, and into the Eighth Heaven, where he estimated Ye Lin could leave in thirty or forty years.
• Ye Lin asked Void to visit the Land of Reception every ten years and bring out Sword Demon, Blade Fanatic, and Iron Hammer; Void agreed before departing.
• Ye Lin checked his status and found his Fate Rank had reached Initial, though his Destiny still foretold his death near the Primordial Continent.
• Ye Lin decided to save his realm advancement opportunity and use it to reach the realm above Saints if his Destiny remained unchanged at Saint Ninth Heaven.
• Ye Lin began exploring the Eighth Heaven, which contained countless floating islands of different sizes.

Ye Lin entered a vast continent in the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm and watched two forces wage war with Quasi-Saint experts and soldier-powered giants. He studied how the formations worked and wondered whether Quasi-Saint soldiers could summon a giant capable of fighting a Saint.

• Ye Lin entered a continent as vast as an entire great world.
• Ye Lin witnessed two first-layer Quasi-Saint experts and their armies fighting across the continent.
• Ye Lin observed that hundreds of thousands of True Immortal soldiers could form battle arrays and summon giants comparable to Primordial Unity Mystic Immortals.
• Ye Lin realized the formations depended on soldiers sharing the same technique, trusting one another, and keeping their wills united.
• Ye Lin considered whether a formation of Quasi-Saint experts could summon a giant strong enough to fight a Saint.

Ye Lin watched two Quasi-Saints defeat a red-haired Quasi-Saint and destroy the opposing army, then accepted Su Tao’s invitation to learn about military formations. At Su Tao’s estate, he heard how groups cultivated together to summon powerful military souls.

• Two youths joined forces to kill the red-haired Quasi-Saint, and one of them wiped out the remaining army.
• The youths confronted Ye Lin, and Su Tao invited him to his residence to examine military formations.
• Ye Lin accepted Su Tao’s invitation and followed him to a magnificent estate.
• Su Tao explained that military formations linked the auras and thoughts of large groups, allowing them to summon powerful military souls.

Ye Lin learned from Su Tao how fortune-based cultivation and army formations worked in the Mountain Sea Realm. Su Tao described the realm’s ambition to unify its lands and reach sainthood, while Ye Lin privately doubted the legend.

• Su Tao explained that formations of tens of thousands of Daluo Golden Immortals could force even quasi-saints to avoid a direct fight.
• Ye Lin asked whether tens of thousands of quasi-saints could challenge a Saint, and Su Tao said even the Transcendent Sacred Dynasty would not assemble such a formation.
• Ye Lin noticed Su Tao’s cultivation was built from fortune, and Su Tao explained that his power and life were bound to the imperial dynasty he ruled.
• Su Tao said a sacred dynasty’s ruler could reach the sixth level of the quasi-saint realm and wield seventh-level strength within his territory.
• Su Tao told Ye Lin that legend promised sainthood to whoever unified the Mountain Sea Realm, and Ye Lin privately dismissed the claim as a wild fantasy.

Su Tao tried to recruit Ye Lin to help unify the Southern Region, but Ye Lin refused to get involved in local conflicts. Su Tao offered a reward, then summoned a strikingly beautiful woman, leaving Ye Lin curious about what he would gain.

• Su Tao explained that the imperial dynasties controlled the Southern Region and asked Ye Lin to help him unify it.
• Ye Lin refused, saying he had no interest in the dynasties’ disputes and might leave the world soon.
• Su Tao said he trusted Ye Lin more than rival rulers and promised he would not ask Ye Lin to work for nothing.
• Su Tao clapped his hands, and a beautiful woman entered the room, drawing Ye Lin’s attention.

Su Tao offered Ye Lin a fragment of the Supreme Purity Mystic Bell, an Innate Spirit Treasure, in exchange for helping him unite the Southern Region. Ye Lin was tempted by the treasure but distrusted Su Tao’s promise and remained undecided.

• Green Lotus greeted Ye Lin, but he rejected Su Tao’s offer of her company.
• Su Tao revealed a fragment of the Supreme Purity Mystic Bell and offered it to Ye Lin if he helped unite the Southern Region.
• Su Tao promised to unite the Southern Region within thirty years, claiming the Great Frost Dynasty needed only a top-tier expert.
• Ye Lin considered the treasure’s value but worried Su Tao might become powerful enough to withhold it after uniting the region.

Su Tao persuaded Ye Lin to sign a heaven-and-earth contract promising the Supreme Purity Mystic Bell in exchange for help unifying the Southern Region. He then presented Ye Lin with the Innate Five-Color Gourd, a half-step Innate treasure with thirty-three heavens inside.

• Su Tao promised Ye Lin the Supreme Purity Mystic Bell if Ye Lin helped him unify the Southern Region and become lord of an imperial dynasty.
• Su Tao wrote the agreement on a golden sheet and signed it with his blood, pledging that breaking it would destroy his soul and bring down the Great Frost Dynasty.
• Ye Lin added his blood to the contract and felt the terrifying presence of the will of heaven and earth acknowledge it.
• Su Tao gave Ye Lin the Innate Five-Color Gourd and explained that it could store living beings, items, and treasures across its thirty-three heavens.

Ye Lin accepted Su Tao’s offer to help unite the Southern Region for thirty years in exchange for a chance to claim the Innate Spirit Treasure, the Supreme Purity Mystic Bell. Su Tao named him the Great Frost Dynasty’s second Imperial Lord, and Ye Lin asked him to take the woman he had given away with him.

• Su Tao offered Ye Lin a family heirloom as collateral and promised him the Supreme Purity Mystic Bell if they succeeded in uniting the Southern Region.
• Ye Lin agreed to help Su Tao for thirty years and said he would not be at fault if they failed.
• Su Tao named Ye Lin the Great Frost Dynasty’s second Imperial Lord and showed him a map of the Southern Region’s forty-eight imperial dynasties.
• Su Tao proposed that he and Ye Lin split up to conquer the dynasties, then asked Ye Lin to attend court the next day for the announcement.
• Ye Lin told Su Tao to take the woman he had given him, but Su Tao refused, saying he would not reclaim a gift.

Ye Lin spared Green Lotus after Su Tao left her in his hands, and she began serving him. The next day, Ye Lin joined Su Tao at the Great Frost Dynasty’s imperial court, where they announced a war to unify the Southern Region within thirty years.

• Su Tao left Green Lotus with Ye Lin and said Ye Lin could kill her if he wished.
• Green Lotus begged Ye Lin to spare her, and he allowed her to stay by his side.
• Green Lotus served Ye Lin throughout the day and night.
• Ye Lin went to the imperial court with Green Lotus following close behind.
• Su Tao introduced Ye Lin as the Great Frost Dynasty’s second Imperial Lord, equal in status to himself.
• Su Tao announced that the dynasty would wage war across the Southern Region and seek to unify it within thirty years.

Su Tao began his campaign to unify the Southern Region within thirty years, placing Ye Lin in command of an army heading south while he led another north. The Great Frost Dynasty’s forces prepared to march, and Su Tao made clear that he was relying on Ye Lin’s formidable strength.

• Su Tao announced his goal of unifying the Southern Region and declared the war of conquest begun.
• Su Tao ordered the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise Legions, along with Wang Long, Liu Xu, and thirty million troops, to follow Ye Lin.
• Su Tao assigned the remaining four legions and thirty million troops to himself and ordered the armies to set out in one hour.
• Su Tao told Ye Lin that he trusted his strength to overcome the southern armies, and Ye Lin agreed.

Su Tao sent Ye Lin to lead a massive army against the Southern Region’s rivals, and Ye Lin chose the nearby Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty as their first target. The fleet reached Crane Feather Pass, where Ye Lin ordered the attack.

• Su Tao left the court after handing command of the army to Ye Lin.
• Ye Lin arrived at the encampment and found four million soldiers and thirty million officers and soldiers assembled.
• Ye Lin chose the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty as the army’s first target after consulting a map.
• Ye Lin’s fleet reached Crane Feather Pass, the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty’s foremost stronghold, and he ordered the army to attack.

The Great Frost Dynasty army swiftly conquered several passes and destroyed the Three Great Legions before surrounding the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty’s palace. Heaven Crane Lord confronted the invaders and prepared to attack, but a piercing sword cry interrupted him as Su Tao remained absent.

• Seven messengers reported that Crane Feather Pass, Mountain Pass, and Three Gorges Great Pass had fallen and the Three Great Legions had been annihilated.
• A general reported that Great Frost Dynasty troops had entered the imperial palace.
• Heaven Crane Lord sensed the invading army’s aura and stormed out of the court hall.
• Heaven Crane Lord found the Great Frost Dynasty army surrounding the palace and demanded that Su Tao appear.
• Heaven Crane Lord moved to attack the soldiers, but a piercing sword cry rang out.

Ye Lin annihilated the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty without revealing himself, killing Heaven Crane Lord and destroying the capital and its surrounding lands. After he wiped out three armies sent as reinforcements, he ordered Han Che to proceed to the next target.

• A thunderous Sword Qi descended from the nine heavens and killed Heaven Crane Lord, grinding his Primordial Spirit to dust.
• A shockwave destroyed the imperial capital and everything within ten million li, killing tens of millions of people.
• Three Sword Qi attacks wiped out the three armies approaching as reinforcements.
• Ye Lin lowered his finger, closed his eyes, and told Han Che to move on to the next target.

Ye Lin’s army swept through the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty with almost no effort, and Su Tao received word that the Heavenly Crane Emperor had been killed. Su Tao then arrived at the Black Bear Dynasty and demanded its ruler surrender the Imperial Jade Seal.

• Ye Lin’s army marched south after he destroyed the Heavenly Crane Imperial Capital and killed the Heavenly Crane Emperor with a flick of his finger.
• Great Frost Dynasty officials arrived to take control of the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty and ordered them to search for its Imperial Jade Seal and secure its remaining forces.
• Su Tao celebrated the report of the Heavenly Crane Emperor’s death and declared that he would unify the Southern Region within three years.
• Su Tao reached the Black Bear Dynasty and demanded that Old Li surrender the Imperial Jade Seal and give up his rule.
• Old Li cursed Su Tao in response.

Ye Lin refused to detour around Black River and ordered his army to crush anyone who stood in its way. The army advanced toward the City of Sin, where three allied quasi-Saint forces protected a haven for criminals and illicit trade.

• Han Che asked Ye Lin whether the army should detour around Black River, and Su Tao explained that three quasi-Saint-level forces controlled the dangerous territory.
• Ye Lin ordered the army to go straight through Black River and kill anyone who blocked them.
• Han Che relayed the order, confident in Ye Lin's strength after he had killed the Sky Crane Emperor Lord with a single finger.
• The army marched toward Black River as word of its approach spread through the territory.
• The chapter described how the three allied forces built the City of Sin, where notorious criminals gathered and stolen goods were openly sold.

A leader in the City of Sin dismissed reports that the Great Frost Dynasty was approaching, but learned that it had already destroyed the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty and was heading for Black River. He hurried to inform the Sect Master as the City of Sin faced a possible attack.

• A scout reported that the Great Frost Dynasty's army was approaching the City of Sin, but the middle-aged leader ordered his men to ignore it.
• The underling reported that the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty had been destroyed, and the leader dismissed the news as false and ordered the scout killed.
• A trusted confidant confirmed that the Great Frost Dynasty had destroyed the Heavenly Crane Imperial Dynasty and was marching toward Black River.
• The middle-aged leader panicked, ordered continued investigation, and hurried to report the threat to the Sect Master.