Recaps

Li Bo and Wang Yu completed the foundation of a vast formation that would disperse the power of battles on the nine Arenas. The formation awakened nine earth veins and used a wisp of the Great Dao’s origin as its core, but it would take at least a hundred years to perfect.

• Li Bo wrote a protective law into the Void, creating a formation that absorbed and transformed attacks into energy to sustain itself.
• Li Bo and Wang Yu completed the formation’s foundation, and nine colored pillars of light shot from the Arenas into the Ninth Heaven and Boundary Sea.
• Nine earth veins awakened beneath the Arenas and converged at the formation eye.
• A ball of Chaotic light, made from a wisp of the Great Dao’s origin, rose at the center and was bound to the nine Arenas by golden chains.
• Wang Yu said the formation’s foundation was complete and that it would take at least a hundred years to perfect.

Ye Lin oversaw the formation foundation and left its two creators to maintain it as it slowly took shape. Back at the City Lord Mansion, he tasked Li Bing with managing incoming factions and their businesses, then realized he still needed powerful experts to protect the city.

• The two formation masters told Ye Lin that the foundation had taken shape but would need about a hundred years to perfect, and they began maintaining it at the formation’s heart.
• Ye Lin returned through the Void to the City Lord Mansion, where Li Bing and two women were waiting for him.
• Ye Lin told Li Bing to use his management experience to arrange for factions arriving in Dao Sword City to open shops and do business.
• Li Bing confidently accepted the task and left with the two women to handle the shops and profits.
• Ye Lin sat alone and concluded that, besides management personnel, Dao Sword City still needed powerful experts to hold the fort.

Ye Lin invited Sword Demon and Blade Fanatic to guard Dao Sword City, believing they could handle ordinary conflicts. Outside the city, a powerful elder from the Great Blade Association arrived and agreed to wait for its gates to open in a hundred years.

• Ye Lin summoned Sword Demon and asked him to guard Dao Sword City, then asked him to bring Blade Fanatic as well.
• Sword Demon accepted Ye Lin's invitation and ended the connection.
• An imposing gray-robed elder approached Dao Sword City, and nearby sword cultivators struggled under his aura.
• Two middle-aged men greeted the elder as Elder Xuan, who said he had come because Ye Lin had built the city for the Great Blade Association.
• Elder Xuan learned the city would not open for a hundred years and vanished into the Void, while the waiting cultivators resolved to stay for the opening.

Elder Xuan entered Dao Sword City and discovered the Sword Pool’s Broken Sword carried a terrifying aura that even made him wary. He pressed onward through the pool’s Sword Qi, heading toward the Broken Sword.

• Sword cultivators were awed by the powerful experts’ respect for Elder Xuan and looked forward to Dao Sword City.
• Elder Xuan recognized the Sword Pool as the place that had drawn him from hundreds of millions of miles away.
• Elder Xuan sensed great danger in the Broken Sword but decided to enter the Sword Pool for the benefits its Sword Qi might offer.
• The Sword Pool’s Sword Qi surged at Elder Xuan, but he shattered every strand that approached him.
• Elder Xuan advanced toward the Broken Sword, treating the Sword Qi seriously when he came within thirty meters.

Elder Xuan tested the Sword Pool and found its Sword Qi powerful enough to make it a sacred cultivation ground. He honored his promise to reside in Dao Sword City and asked Ye Lin whether the city held anything else of interest.

• Elder Xuan advanced to within six zhang of the broken sword before the Sword Qi forced him to stop and retreat.
• Elder Xuan wondered how Ye Lin had gathered so many damaged swords left behind by great Sword Dao masters.
• Elder Xuan decided the Sword Pool could help him cultivate toward the eighth heaven of the Quasi-Saint realm.
• Ye Lin arrived beside Elder Xuan, who praised the Sword Pool and asked whether Dao Sword City had anything else worth seeing.

Ye Lin showed Elder Xuan around Dao Sword City, impressing him with the Sword Pool and its facilities. Elder Xuan discovered that Wang Yu and the other old man overseeing the arena formation were far more powerful than Ye Lin had realized.

• Ye Lin invited Elder Xuan to tour the city, and Elder Xuan was impressed by the ancient swords in the Sword Pool.
• Elder Xuan visited Drunken Sword Pavilion and lamented that it had no fine wine, while Ye Lin hinted that he had plans to obtain some later.
• Ye Lin explained that the nine arenas were made from premium cold ice and would be protected by a Grand Dao formation capable of containing fights between Ninth Heaven Quasi-Saint cultivators.
• Elder Xuan recognized Wang Yu and the other old man as seniors and bowed to them.
• Ye Lin bowed to Wang Yu and realized the Spirit King had arranged for far more powerful formation masters than he had expected.

Elder Xuan told Ye Lin that the two formation masters he had invited were Eighth Heaven Quasi-Saint Realm experts whose ability to lay a Grand Dao formation was extraordinarily valuable. He warned Ye Lin that their lavish assistance likely meant they wanted something from him, and Ye Lin acknowledged the warning as he followed Elder Xuan.

• After leaving the arena grounds, Elder Xuan asked Ye Lin where he had found the two seniors, but Ye Lin kept their origins secret.
• Elder Xuan revealed that both seniors were Eighth Heaven Quasi-Saint Realm formation masters, surpassing the Holy Palace's strongest formation master.
• Elder Xuan explained that their Grand Dao formation expertise was exceptionally rare and that even the Holy Palace's core grand formation had been laid by a Saint.
• Elder Xuan warned Ye Lin that the hidden power helping him so generously must be seeking something and urged him to be careful.
• Ye Lin thanked Elder Xuan for the warning and hurried to follow him.

Ye Lin let go of his suspicions about the Spirit King and brought Elder Xuan to the lecture platform, where the bluestone seat gave Elder Xuan astonishing insights into the Sword Dao. After three days, Elder Xuan recognized the stone’s immense value and asked who knew about it.

• Ye Lin decided to accept the Spirit King’s kindness and repay him in the future, believing he had nothing worth exploiting now.
• Ye Lin told Elder Xuan that the Spirit King had not given him the bluestone.
• Elder Xuan sat on the lotus throne and experienced heightened comprehension of the Great Dao and Sword Dao Law.
• After three days, Elder Xuan said the bluestone could make reaching the eighth heaven of the Quasi-Saint realm possible within ten thousand years if moved to the Sword Pool.
• Elder Xuan warned that powerful Quasi-Saints would covet the bluestone and asked who knew about it, and Ye Lin replied that no one did.

Ye Lin displayed a precious bluestone in Dao Sword City, confident he could protect it and use it to attract powerful cultivators. Ning Yi visited the city and offered to arrange a Quasi-Saint Eighth Heaven expert to guard it, leaving Ye Lin wondering why people kept trying to curry favor with him.

• Elder Xuan warned Ye Lin that he could not protect the precious bluestone, but Ye Lin said he had placed it there deliberately to draw powerful cultivators.
• Elder Xuan decided to stay in Dao Sword City and honor his promise after seeing the Sword Pool and the bluestone.
• Ning Yi called for Ye Lin, and Ye Lin welcomed him into Dao Sword City.
• Ning Yi praised Ye Lin's careful work on the city and offered to invite a Quasi-Saint Eighth Heaven expert to guard it.
• Ye Lin wondered why the Spirit King and Ning Yi were both trying so hard to curry favor with him.

Ye Lin declined Ning Yi’s offer of help but let him open a shop in Dao Sword City. Ning Yi revealed that he wanted to know whether Ye Lin’s earlier prediction about his fate was true, and Ye Lin left him with an ambiguous warning that fate might not be changed.

• Ye Lin wondered why Ning Yi was trying so hard to befriend him and declined his offer of help.
• Ning Yi asked to open a shop in Dao Sword City, and Ye Lin agreed.
• Ning Yi hinted that he could help if trouble came to the city, prompting Ye Lin to ask what he really wanted.
• Ning Yi asked whether Ye Lin’s earlier reading of his Fate Traits was true and how he could avoid his predicted death.
• Ye Lin told Ning Yi that heavenly secrets must not be divulged and that what was fated might be impossible to change.

Ning Yi asked Ye Lin about the deadly tribulation awaiting him at the Sixth Heaven Quasi-Saint Realm. Ye Lin revealed that Ning Yi would die because of another, but warned that knowing fate might not let him escape it; Ning Yi accepted the answer and chose to wait for the future.

• Ning Yi pressed Ye Lin for a clear warning about his fate, recognizing that Ye Lin knew more than the clan chief had told him.
• Ye Lin explained that fate could be difficult or impossible to change, and that defying it could bring Heavenly Punishment.
• Ning Yi asked whether his death would be caused by himself or someone else, and Ye Lin said it would be because of another.
• Ning Yi thanked Ye Lin and stopped asking for details, deciding he would learn what happened when the time came.
• Ye Lin cautioned that destiny might still be broken, while keeping quiet to avoid taking on Ning Yi's karmic burden.

Ning Yi toured Dao Sword City, praised its construction, and planned to return when it opened in a hundred years. As Ye Lin and others waited, factions filled the city with shops, and Dao Sword City grew into a bustling hub.

• Ning Yi praised Dao Sword City, said he would return in a hundred years, and left.
• Ye Lin settled into the City Lord Mansion to wait, while Sword Demon, Blade Fanatic, and Elder Xuan found places to meditate or sit.
• Li Bing negotiated with factions over their goods, rent, and profit shares as they sought to establish shops in the city.
• Over several decades, Dao Sword City grew lively as shops opened, mostly run by Sword Dao factions.
• The Great Blade Association bought a building, while the Origin Chamber of Commerce bought two and made one an auction venue.

After a hundred years of preparation, Ye Lin officially opened Dao Sword City and announced the rules for entering and behaving within it. The waiting sword cultivators streamed through the gates to explore the city.

• Ye Lin surveyed the completed decorations and shops in Dao Sword City, satisfied with Li Bing's work.
• Li Bing told Ye Lin that the time had come to open the city.
• Ye Lin addressed the gathered cultivators, announced Dao Sword City's rules, and welcomed them inside.
• Fireworks and Sword Qi celebrated as the waiting cultivators surged through the city gates.

Ye Lin watched cultivators arrive at Dao Sword City, including the Spirit King, Yun Qiyue, Nangong Yue, and Ning Yi with the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan chief. He worried the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan and the Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan might fight, but Ning Yi assured him both sides had come to talk.

• Ye Lin saw the Spirit King arrive with an elderly man, and the Spirit King entered the city after saying he would wait at the City Lord Mansion.
• Yun Qiyue arrived with Nangong Yue, teased Ye Lin for not informing her, and went into the city with Nangong Yue, who asked to do business there.
• Ning Yi arrived with the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan chief, and Ye Lin respectfully welcomed the Ninth Heaven Quasi-Saint.
• Ye Lin warned Ning Yi that the Spirit King of the enemy Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan was in the city and urged him to prevent a fight.
• Ning Yi assured Ye Lin that both clans had come to negotiate and promised the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan would cover any damage if a fight broke out.

Ye Lin worried that Ning Yi and the Spirit King’s side might fight in Dao Sword City, while the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan’s patriarch and the Spirit King met to discuss their clans’ grievances. The patriarch agreed not to fight in the city, and the Spirit King proposed ending the old feud without burdening the younger generation.

• Ye Lin suspected Ning Yi and the Spirit King had secretly arranged their talks and warned that he expected them to follow the rules.
• Long Aotian arrived, and Ye Lin welcomed him before entering Dao Sword City himself.
• Ye Lin went to the City Lord Mansion, fearing a clash between the powerful visitors could destroy the city and kill its cultivators.
• Inside the mansion, the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan’s patriarch and the Spirit King exchanged barbed remarks as their companions sat with them.
• The patriarch said he would only fight at the Boundary Sea, while the Spirit King called for an end to the clans’ grievances so their ancestors’ grudges would not burden the younger generation.

Luo Yan, the Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan’s old ancestor, proposed that his clan and the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan end their feud and stop provoking one another. Ning Po recognized Luo Yan’s sincerity but faced the burden of asking his clan to set aside its deep hatred.

• Ning Po challenged Luo Yan to state plainly what he wanted from the two clans.
• Luo Yan proposed that the clans develop separately, avoid provoking each other, and punish whoever started trouble.
• Ning Po said their hatred could not be dissolved by pressure or by a decision from the two leaders alone.
• Luo Yan said Ning Po would need to yield for the grudges to fade, then left the choice to him.
• Ning Po realized Luo Yan was serious and understood the significance of the old ancestor personally making the proposal.

Luo Yan pressured Ning Po to choose peace or war between the Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan and the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan. Ning Po remained trapped between agreeing to a decision he could not make alone and leaving, which Luo Yan said would unleash a great calamity in the Eastern Region.

• Ning Po recognized that refusing Luo Yan's proposal could drive the two clans into war and damage both clans' foundations.
• Ning Po said he would consider the proposal and rose, but Luo Yan's terrifying pressure stopped him.
• Luo Yan demanded an answer, saying the clans' long-running violence had killed many descendants and weakened both sides.
• Ning Po said he could not persuade his whole clan alone and asked whether Luo Yan would accompany him.
• Luo Yan said Ning Po only needed to agree, then warned that leaving the hall would inevitably bring a great calamity to the Eastern Region.
• Ning Po stayed, unable to agree on his own or risk leaving and triggering war.

Ning Po struggled to choose between reconciling the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan with the Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan and risking a war that could destroy his clan. When Ye Lin arrived, Ning Po tried to make him decide, but Ye Lin refused and attempted to leave.

• Ning Po weighed the consequences of accepting or refusing the Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan ancestor’s ultimatum.
• Ye Lin arrived at the hall and was warmly summoned by Ning Po, who asked him to choose between reconciliation and war.
• Ye Lin said he had no standing to decide and explained that he had only come to check on the seniors.
• Ye Lin turned to leave, but someone grabbed him by the collar before he could get far.

Ye Lin proposed that the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan and the other clan reconcile, and Ning Po and Luo Yan agreed to a peace witnessed by Ye Lin. Ning Po left Dao Sword City, inviting Ye Lin to visit the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan and hinting that it could support him.

• Ning Po pressed Ye Lin to share his opinion on the clans’ conflict.
• Ye Lin urged the two clans to reconcile and develop together rather than continue wasting their strength in battle.
• Ning Po agreed to peace, and Luo Yan established that whichever clan member attacked first in a future encounter would be at fault, with Ye Lin as witness.
• Ning Po toasted the clans’ renewed relationship and left to explore Dao Sword City.
• Ning Po thanked Ye Lin and invited him to visit the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan, saying it might support him.

Ye Lin reconciled with the Spirit King after their meeting eased the feud between the Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan and the Mystic Soul Dragon Clan. He then toured Dao Sword City and saw its sword cultivators drinking and fighting in the Arenas.

• Ning Yi followed his clan chief out of the main hall, leaving Ye Lin with Luo Yan and the Spirit King.
• Ye Lin reproached the Spirit King for not warning him about the dangerous meeting, and the Spirit King apologized.
• The Spirit King said both sides had never intended to fight, and Ye Lin accepted that the clan feud had eased.
• Ye Lin toured the busy Drunken Sword Pavilion, where sword cultivators drank and chatted.
• Ye Lin visited the Arena, where cultivators from Daluo Golden Immortals to Quasi-Saints fought across all nine Arenas, protected by green barriers.

Ye Lin visited the Arena and Lecture Platform in Dao Sword City, hoping to benefit from powerful sword cultivators. He found Elder Xuan lecturing on basic sword Dao principles as more cultivators arrived to listen.

• Ye Lin watched sword cultivators spar in the Arena and saw that its construction and formations impressed the crowd.
• Ye Lin left the Arena, satisfied that stronger cultivators would eventually come to test it.
• Ye Lin reached the Lecture Platform and found Elder Xuan giving a lecture on the sword Dao.
• Rogue Cultivators and cultivators from minor factions streamed in to hear Elder Xuan lecture for free.
• Ye Lin listened closely and realized Elder Xuan was teaching the fundamentals of the sword Dao.

Ye Lin visited Dao Sword City's sword-discourse sites and observed sword cultivators exchanging insights. He then went to inspect the Sword Pool, where admission cost trading points under his agreement with the Great Blade Association.

• Ye Lin left the basic swordsmanship lecture to inspect Dao Sword City's other locations.
• Ye Lin watched Daluo Golden Immortals and Quasi-Saints exchange sincere insights on the Debate Platform.
• Ye Lin headed to the Sword Pool, the only site that charged admission.
• Ye Lin's arrangement sent trading points to him, resources to the Great Blade Association, and Sword Pool access to sword cultivators.
• Ye Lin arrived at the Sword Pool and saw the scene there.

Ye Lin saw the Sword Pool draw crowds of sword cultivators eager to temper their Sword Dao, and concluded that his plan to attract experts to Dao Sword City was beginning to work. Worried the city would eventually run out of space, he decided he might need to charge admission.

• Ye Lin saw thousands of cultivators gathered outside the Sword Pool, with battered sword cultivators emerging and others laughing as they endured the Sword Qi.
• Ye Lin considered whether the ten-thousand-point entry fee was too low, but decided to wait and see how the Sword Pool's popularity developed.
• Ye Lin reflected that the free arena, Lecture Platform, and Debate Platform could attract experts whose battles and discussions would benefit him, while the Sword Pool needed to charge a fee.
• Ye Lin worried that sword cultivators might stay in Dao Sword City as more arrived, eventually crowding the city, and decided he would have to start charging admission.

Ye Lin decided to charge cultivators to enter the city and asked Li Bing to devise a fee system. Li Bing proposed charging low-level cultivators more and high-level cultivators less or nothing, and Ye Lin left the plan in his hands.

• Ye Lin decided that keeping city entry free would eventually cause overcrowding and trouble.
• Ye Lin summoned Li Bing and asked how to manage the number of cultivators in the city.
• Li Bing proposed setting entry fees by cultivation level, charging low-level cultivators more and offering powerful cultivators reduced fees or free entry.
• Li Bing explained that powerful cultivators could attract visitors and bring the city greater value through their fame and spending.
• Ye Lin assigned the fee system to Li Bing and promised him one percent of the profits.

After Elder Xuan finished preaching, Ye Lin reflected on how the teaching had strengthened his foundation. A red-haired cultivator then took his place on the bluestone and began offering teachings of his own.

• Ye Lin left the great hall, visited the arena, and then sat among the crowd to listen to Elder Xuan preach.
• Elder Xuan ended his lesson and left to digest the insights he had gained.
• Ye Lin joined the crowd in thanking Elder Xuan and felt that his foundation had become more stable after listening.
• A red-haired cultivator stepped onto the bluestone and offered to teach what he had researched himself.
• A Quasi-Saint and the Daluo Golden Immortals sat down to listen, while the higher-ranked cultivators stayed silent.