Chapter Summaries

Ye Lin was mistaken for the returned Sword Dao Master by sixty figures, who began transforming his Sword Dao. As they uncovered his original Sword Heart, Ye Lin was pulled into visions of a more ancient past.

• Sixty figures knelt before Ye Lin and welcomed him as the Dao Master's return.
• The figures explained that Ye Lin was the reincarnated Sword Dao Master and began the first stage of Sword Dao transformation.
• Ye Lin's consciousness dissolved into the figures' Sword Intent and encountered a colossal sword in the void.
• The figures revealed the origins of the Sword Dao as the first sword mark cleaved Chaos apart.
• Sword-like flames stripped away Ye Lin's impurities and exposed a tiny ray of his original Sword Heart.
• The Sword Heart surged, pulling Ye Lin through layers of void toward memories of his ancient past.

Ye Lin underwent the first transformation as the sixty figures awakened the original sword imprint within his consciousness and reshaped him with Sword Intent. The process continued as his true self began to shrink beneath the endless sea of swords.

• Ye Lin saw a mysterious swordsman carving apart Chaos and heard a voice call him back.
• The colossal sword changed into translucent Liuli, and the sixty figures explained that they were awakening the first sword imprint in Ye Lin’s consciousness.
• Sword radiance surged into Ye Lin and formed ten thousand sword Dao pathways through his body, leaving tiny swords revolving in his eyes.
• The sixty figures judged his foundation unstable and sank him into an endless sea of Sword Intent.
• Ye Lin accepted the Sword Intents as they washed over his consciousness, and he felt his true self shrinking.

Ye Lin underwent the first transformation as the Sword Intent awakened his original Sword Heart and reshaped his memories and cultivation. He emerged at the Third Heaven Quasi-Saint Realm, close to the Fourth Heaven, but chose not to break through again immediately.

• Sword Intent stripped away Ye Lin's memories and began awakening a vast, ancient existence within him.
• The Sword Intent converged on Ye Lin's brow and formed a mysterious sword seal, allowing his consciousness and memories to reassemble around a sword core.
• Ye Lin learned that the sword beneath him had revealed its true form: an ancient black sword named the Origin of Dao.
• The sixty figures said Ye Lin had awakened the Dao Lord's original Sword Heart and laid the foundation for the remaining eight transformations.
• Ye Lin's ten thousand eight hundred sword-path meridians transformed his power into pure sword essence, advancing him from the second to the Third Heaven Quasi-Saint Realm.
• Ye Lin sensed he was close to the Fourth Heaven but chose not to enter seclusion and break through again.

Ye Lin learned that the Sword Dao’s former followers had suffered under his traitorous disciple and were fading away after helping him complete a transformation. He was left questioning whether he was truly the Dao Master of the Sword Dao.

• The sixty figures told Ye Lin that his traitorous disciple had tormented them and claimed the Sword Dao’s title, but they still recognized Ye Lin as their true Dao Master.
• The figures said they would do their utmost to help Ye Lin complete his next eight transformations, then warned that they could no longer intervene without exposing him.
• The figures said the myriad Bitter Seas had been reshaped by karma as their final aid to Ye Lin, then vanished as the bronze gate opened.
• Ye Lin noticed that the jade pendant on the seat’s armrest had disappeared.
• Ye Lin reviewed his cultivation, abilities, and destiny, then wondered whether he was the Dao Master of the Sword Dao.

Ye Lin left the Bronze Immortal Hall after gaining a major increase in cultivation and strength, choosing not to dwell on the mysterious changes or the claim that he was the Sword Dao’s master. Back in Dao Sword City, he found Sword Elder gone and resolved to accept the benefits while waiting to learn the truth later.

• Ye Lin reached the Third Heaven Quasi-Saint Realm and gained a dramatic increase in strength after leaving the Bronze Immortal Hall.
• Ye Lin took the jade pendant and left the hall, deciding not to investigate its mysteries further.
• Ye Lin returned to Dao Sword City a day later and searched the City Lord Mansion for Sword Elder, but found he had disappeared.
• Ye Lin examined the jade pendant and speculated that Sword Elder might be one of the sixty statues connected to the Bronze Immortal Hall.
• Ye Lin decided to accept the benefits and trust that he would learn what he needed to know in the future.

Ye Lin entered the Sword Dao Holy Land to attempt the true disciple assessment and began its first trial, the Sword Heart Trial. After answering why he wielded a sword and whether he regretted his path, he faced the trial’s final question.

• Ye Lin activated the Sword Heart Seal and traveled to the Sword Dao Holy Land.
• Ye Lin greeted Senior Cangfeng, confirmed he would take the assessment, and learned that it had three trials.
• Cangfeng sent Ye Lin into the first stage of the Sword Heart Trial, called Wenxin, where he had to answer three questions.
• The trial showed Ye Lin scenes from his past before asking why he wielded a sword, and Ye Lin answered that the sword had seized hold of him.
• The trial asked whether Ye Lin regretted his path, and he replied that every mark along it had made him who he was.

Ye Lin passed the first Sword Heart trial by declaring that his will to cleave apart all things was the true origin of the Sword Dao. He entered a snowfield holding 108 sword-soul projections, where Cangfeng explained the rules of the second trial: defeat a chosen opponent within three attempts.

• Ye Lin answered the third question by explaining that his primal will would create a new Sword Dao even if swords and the old Dao vanished.
• The Vast Expanse shattered, and its fragments formed a stairway beneath Ye Lin’s feet.
• Cangfeng announced that Ye Lin had passed the Wenxin trial and praised the clarity of his Dao Heart.
• Ye Lin climbed into a snowfield containing 108 stone steles and swords belonging to past direct disciples.
• Cangfeng explained that Ye Lin had to defeat one chosen sword-soul projection, with up to three attempts before the trial ended.

Ye Lin chose Blackwater Worldslayer, a Fourth Heaven Quasi-Saint whose projection was limited to peak Third Heaven strength, for the True Disciple assessment. Worldslayer began their fight with a devastating downward sword strike.

• Ye Lin passed the remaining steles without hesitation and stopped at Blackwater Worldslayer’s, despite Cangfeng warning him about Worldslayer’s strength and experience.
• Ye Lin tapped Worldslayer’s black greatsword and declared that he would choose him.
• Worldslayer’s sword-soul projection emerged, and Ye Lin told him he was not afraid.
• Worldslayer raised his greatsword, darkening the snowfield, then launched a direct downward slash that drew the surrounding light into its blade.

Ye Lin stopped Tu Shi’s Black Sword with two fingers, then split Tu Shi’s full-strength Abyssfall strike with a single sweep. The sweep reached Tu Shi’s chest but dissipated without cutting him.

• Ye Lin caught Tu Shi’s sword strike between two fingers and neutralized its force and Abyssal Sword Intent.
• Tu Shi retreated, saw the faint mark on his blade, and laughed before challenging Ye Lin to withstand another sword.
• Tu Shi unleashed Abyssal Sword Intent, Tenth Layer—Abyssfall, with his full strength.
• Ye Lin coated his fingertips with silver Sword Seal power and split the layered darkness with a horizontal stroke.
• Ye Lin’s stroke stopped against Tu Shi’s robes and dissipated without injuring him.

Ye Lin defeated Tu Shi in the second trial and entered the Sword Graveyard for the third trial, where he had to earn the acknowledgment of every sleeping sword. The ancient swords nearest him began to tremble as he surveyed the endless graveyard.

• Tu Shi admitted defeat and said his sword feared something it sensed within Ye Lin.
• Tu Shi’s projection vanished, leaving a new slash carved into his stone stele.
• Cangfeng announced that Ye Lin had passed the strength trial and described the third trial, Myriad Swords Pay Homage.
• Ye Lin entered the gate and found himself in an immense Sword Graveyard filled with ancient swords.
• The swords closest to Ye Lin trembled and hummed as he stood among them.

Ye Lin began the third true disciple trial, Myriad Swords Pay Homage, which required him to reach the Progenitor Sword while gaining every sword’s acknowledgment. He used a trace of sword seal aura to make the first swords yield, then entered a region of older, damaged blades.

• Cangfeng explained that Ye Lin had to win the acknowledgment of every sword on the way to the Progenitor Sword, and that past candidates had taken as long as three years and seven months.
• Ye Lin took his second step, stirring the swords within a hundred zhang and drawing the attention of a dark-red longsword.
• The dark-red longsword accused Ye Lin of carrying the stench of blood, and Ye Lin replied that sword cultivators killed to survive.
• Ye Lin revealed a faint trace of sword seal aura, causing the dark-red longsword to retreat and turn aside.
• The swords in the first region rose into two rows and let Ye Lin pass into a broader area filled with ancient, damaged swords.

Ye Lin silenced the sword souls in the second area by showing them the Sword Dao he had cultivated himself, and they bowed aside to let him pass. He entered the third area, where a green-robed phantom raised a sword to demand that he prove himself.

• A sword soul in a broken blade questioned Ye Lin about the ancient Sword Dao aura he carried.
• Ye Lin summoned a tiny sword of his own Sword Dao, silencing the sword souls and convincing the old man that he spoke the truth.
• The old man bowed and withdrew into his broken sword, while the ancient swords turned aside as Ye Lin walked past.
• Ye Lin entered the third area, where several dozen swords stood on stone platforms inscribed with arrays.
• An azure sword rose before Ye Lin, and a green-robed phantom emerged to assess him.

Ye Lin won the recognition of the forty-nine ancient swords by demonstrating a Sword Dao that encompassed every school while returning to simplicity. The swords opened a path to a small, bone-white sword embedded in a piece of bluestone.

• The azure-robed phantom explained that the forty-nine swords would judge whether Ye Lin's Sword Dao aligned with their own.
• Ye Lin traced a simple arc with two fingers, causing all forty-nine swords to resonate with the essence of his Sword Dao.
• The azure-robed phantom praised Ye Lin's foundation, saluted him, and entered the azure-blue Long Sword.
• The forty-nine swords turned their tips to show Ye Lin the way, and a stone path appeared beneath his feet.
• Ye Lin walked past the swords and reached a small white sword embedded in bluestone.

Ye Lin discovered a lifeless white short sword in the Sword Graveyard that resonated with the true essence of his Sword Dao. After its light repelled his attempt to touch it, he waited quietly, and a humanoid figure began forming above the sword.

• Ye Lin examined the white short sword and sensed that it resonated with the true essence of his Sword Dao.
• Ye Lin tried to touch the sword, but a layer of white light blocked his hand and dissolved his Sword Intent.
• Ye Lin sat cross-legged before the sword and waited in silence.
• White light emerged from the sword and gathered into a hazy humanoid silhouette above it.

Ye Lin met a diminutive old man who had emerged from the white light and learned that he was a consciousness formed from the sword’s spiritual awareness and sword soul, as well as the Sword Graveyard’s gatekeeper. The old man had awakened after millions of years and was assessing Ye Lin, who waited calmly to hear what came next.

• A white light transformed into a diminutive old man, who studied Ye Lin with a smile that left Ye Lin feeling mistaken for someone else.
• The old man stretched after awakening from a sleep of millions of years, then asked whether Ye Lin had tried to touch him.
• The old man explained that Ye Lin could not reach him because a restriction protected him from Ye Lin’s Third Heaven Quasi-Saint Realm cultivation.
• The old man said he was a consciousness reborn from the sword’s spiritual awareness and sword soul, and that he served as the Sword Graveyard’s gatekeeper.
• Ye Lin stayed calm and waited for the old man to speak, earning another look of appreciation.

The little old man told Ye Lin stories about his master, the first Sword Dao Holy Lord, and the founding of the Sword Dao Holy Land. After sharing his memories, he looked at Ye Lin with a deeper expression, leaving the reason for his tale unanswered.

• The little old man compared Ye Lin's calmness to that of a former examinee who became the Holy Land's deputy Holy Lord.
• The little old man explained how his master, then a Fifth Heaven Quasi-Saint, defeated the stronger Thousand-Blade Devil Lord and broke his sword formation.
• The little old man described how his master founded the Sword Dao Holy Land to preserve and revive the Sword Dao.
• The little old man recounted his master's pursuit of sword arts, romance with a beloved confidante, and final disappearance on a snowy peak.
• Ye Lin asked the little old man why he had told him those stories.

Ye Lin answered the old man’s question by saying he would keep cultivating even after reaching the summit, convincing the old man that he resembled his master. The old man faded into the short sword, which Ye Lin could not pull free, and Ye Lin left the Sword Graveyard through a gate of light.

• The old man told Ye Lin he saw a trace of his master in him and asked what he would do if he became unmatched in the world.
• Ye Lin said he would continue cultivating toward higher realms, and the old man accepted his answer with a solemn “Good.”
• The old man dispersed into white light that returned to the short sword, and the barrier around the sword vanished.
• Ye Lin tried to pull out the short sword but realized he was not qualified to wield it.
• A gate of light appeared, and Ye Lin stepped through it, leaving the Sword Graveyard.

Ye Lin learned that Holy Land personal disciples could enter the Scripture Depository and the Teaching Hall, then received a map and a black sword token from Cangfeng. He arrived in a vast realm of sword-shaped peaks and endless Sword Intent, where he recognized the cleansing wind as the Holy Land’s Jian Feng.

• Ye Lin asked Cangfeng what privileges came with becoming a Holy Land personal disciple, and Cangfeng explained his access to the Scripture Depository and the Teaching Hall.
• Cangfeng gave Ye Lin a Holy Land map and a black sword token, warning him to visit only the Scripture Depository’s first three floors and the Teaching Hall.
• Cangfeng sent Ye Lin away, and Ye Lin appeared on a stone platform overlooking countless floating sword peaks and a river of sword light.
• Ye Lin examined the realm’s mirrored peaks and felt the sharp wind cleanse his body, recognizing it as the Holy Land’s Jian Feng.

Ye Lin entered the Sacred Land and studied its map, identifying the Scripture Depository and Lecture Hall. He headed northwest across a bridge of sword light toward the Scripture Depository, mindful of Senior Cangfeng's warning that the beautiful place held deadly dangers.

• Ye Lin emerged through the sword gate engraved with “Return of the Sword Dao to Its Origin” and felt the Sacred Land's sword essence strengthen his cultivation foundation.
• Ye Lin studied the map in his consciousness and located the Scripture Depository to the northwest and the Lecture Hall to the southeast.
• Ye Lin surveyed the Sacred Land and saw his reflection change into a person standing with a sword in hand.
• Ye Lin stepped onto a bridge of sword light and walked northwest toward the Scripture Depository, remembering Senior Cangfeng's warning.

Ye Lin reached the Scripture Depository and took in its sword-marked, twelve-level structure. His black sword opened the entrance, and he stepped inside, where an overwhelming rush of words met him.

• Ye Lin examined the Scripture Depository and sensed the gathered Sword Intent surrounding it.
• He observed sword marks covering the pavilion and the sword-tip spire crowned by a pearl containing a miniature Star River.
• Ye Lin approached the entrance, and his small black sword touched the light curtain, causing it to open.
• Ye Lin entered the first floor and felt words rush toward him.