Chapter Summaries

Yu Ci discovered that his sword intent had formed a Seed True Talisman, then examined Xiao Fuyun’s Mirage Jade Slip and found its scripture dangerous to study without special protection. He continued through the underground caverns and was stopped by a powerful sword ghost offering to guide him through Sunken Sword Cave.

• Yu Ci realized that his Seed True Talisman marked the beginning of Core Formation, while Di Tianluo and Di She became surrounded by a vast horde of sword ghosts.
• Yu Ci opened the Mirage Jade Slip containing the Immeasurable Void Divine Reflection Canon, but used True Dragon Form Qi to escape its mind-warping visions.
• Yu Ci compared the Void Mirror Disk with the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror and concluded that the disk was an imitation, while pondering how to restore the damaged mirror.
• Yu Ci sent Fish Dragon to scout the caverns and continued onward through Sunken Sword Cave.
• Yu Ci struck back at approaching ghostly creatures with the Nine Luminaries Dragon Abyss Sword Talisman, but a nine-foot-tall sword ghost blocked his attack and offered to guide him.

Yu Ci followed the intelligent ghost Tie Lan into the depths of Sword Garden after defeating it in a sword exchange. Tie Lan led him to a sealed chamber and revealed that its master had arranged an opportunity for someone who could use the Upper Azure Star-Glow Induction Divine Thunder at the false pellet stage.

• Yu Ci prepared his volatile homemade thunder talisman in case the surrounding sword ghosts attacked, then accepted Tie Lan's challenge to exchange swordsmanship.
• Yu Ci used his sword technique to disperse Tie Lan's ghostly form and withstand its attacks, impressing the ghost enough to earn permission to proceed.
• Tie Lan introduced itself by name and guided Yu Ci deeper into Sword Garden, where Yu Ci recorded their route and learned that seven sword cultivators had also descended.
• Tie Lan brought Yu Ci to a circular chamber covered in complex talisman patterns, and the entrance sealed behind them.
• Tie Lan told Yu Ci that its master had promised an opportunity to anyone who could use the Upper Azure Star-Glow Induction Divine Thunder at the false pellet stage.

Yu Ci discovered that the cavern’s apparent talisman formation was a single, shattered talisman, and realized the Sunken Sword Cave master wanted him to reconstruct it. Before he could decide whether to refuse, a passage opened and he encountered someone at a fork in the corridor.

• Yu Ci kept his guard up while Tie Lan knelt silently, and he examined the talisman patterns in the cavern.
• Yu Ci recognized that the patterns were scattered fragments of one enormous talisman, not a functioning formation, and accused Tie Lan’s side of playing him for a fool.
• Yu Ci sensed that the Sunken Sword Cave master was still watching and realized the master wanted him to combine the fragments into a complete talisman.
• Yu Ci prepared to refuse, but a doorway opened in the cliff face, and Tie Lan led him through the passage toward two forks.
• Yu Ci sensed someone approaching from a side path and came face-to-face with the person, both of them astonished.

Yu Ci and Incense Slave reached the Sunken Sword Cave’s Manifestation Hall, where they learned the cave’s master had invited gathered cultivators to a banquet. After meditating in a Worry-Free Seat, Yu Ci returned to the hall as the mysterious host appeared to welcome the guests.

• Yu Ci met Incense Slave in the corridor, and they compared their encounters with the sword ghosts and the runic array.
• Tie Lan led Yu Ci and Incense Slave to the Manifestation Hall, where they saw Xia Boyang and learned a banquet would be held for the arriving cultivators.
• Yu Ci chose a seat beside Incense Slave, then went to a quiet room and learned that the Worry-Free Seat filtered out Yin Qi and Geng Metal Qi.
• Yu Ci meditated for two hours and returned to the hall as the other cultivators waited for the banquet.
• A fissure opened above the main seat, and the mysterious master appeared and called the gathered guests talents of an era.

The Cave Master gathered the Sword Garden guests in the Manifestation Hall, demonstrated his control over them, and offered rare sword treasures for their consideration. He presented an incomplete Gushi Immortal Sword and a fragment of the Supreme True Nine Heavens Flying Immortal Sword Scripture before revealing a complete Thunder-Slaying Calamity-Averting Token.

• The Cave Master used his voice to make most guests drink Clarifying Qi Dew, while Yu Ci and a few others resisted the compulsion.
• The Cave Master explained the dew’s effects and said the Sunken Sword Cave held supreme sword vessels and manuals that guests could obtain.
• Bu Cuo asked the Cave Master to reveal his name, but he refused and warned Bu Cuo off with a cold gaze.
• Tie Lan presented the incomplete Gushi Immortal Sword and explained that its remaining Gushi divine light was sealed inside its scabbard.
• Tie Lan showed a fragment of the Supreme True Nine Heavens Flying Immortal Sword Scripture, stirring an uproar among the sword cultivators.
• Tie Lan revealed the complete Thunder-Slaying Calamity-Averting Token, whose thunder-fire and sword intent repeatedly tore and repaired it.

The Sunken Sword Cave master revealed a Thunder-Slaying Calamity-Averting Token and claimed that the Sword Immortal Secret Realm would open for the third time, stirring the cultivators’ greed and suspicions. He used the jade tablets to identify those with affinity and expelled most of the gathering, leaving Yu Ci and a select group in the hall.

• Tie Lan named the Thunder-Slaying Calamity-Averting Token, and Yu Ci and the other cultivators recognized its power to avert a heavenly tribulation.
• The Sunken Sword Cave master displayed the token and other treasures, then spoke of the Sword Immortal Secret Realm.
• Wen Shifei asked the Sunken Sword Cave master to explain the secret realm, and he said it opened about once every five thousand years and had appeared twice before.
• The Sunken Sword Cave master examined the glowing jade tablets and ordered those without affinity to leave.
• The Sunken Sword Cave master swept most of the cultivators out of the hall, leaving Yu Ci, Wen Shifei, Xia Boyang, Di Tianluo, and several others behind.

The master of the Sunken Sword Cave revealed that the Sword Immortal Secret Realm had opened and forced Yu Ci and the other cultivators aboard his flying vessel to help break its three talisman seals. He killed Bu Cuo and Bu Cuo’s two junior brothers when they resisted, leaving the survivors to travel toward the secret realm under his control.

• The master of the Sunken Sword Cave explained that the secret realm’s opening had strengthened the sword ghosts and made the Sunken Sword Cave’s caverns perilous.
• The master transported Yu Ci and the other cultivators aboard his Myriad Manifestation Sky-Traveling Boat and revealed that three talisman seals blocked access to the secret realm’s core.
• The master said he had gathered the cultivators to combine their sword and talisman skills, promising rewards for breaking the seals.
• Bu Cuo challenged the master, who threw him and his two junior brothers out of the vessel to their deaths.
• Tie Lan directed the surviving cultivators to their cabins, and Yu Ci asked him what sort of person his master was.

Yu Ci discovered that his connection to the distant little fellow had extended far beyond its former limit, then arrived with the other cultivators at the entrance to the Sword Immortal Secret Realm. The Sunken Sword Cave master restrained Yu Ci and Wen Shifei, warned everyone not to conceal a particular item, and explained that the realm’s scattered treasure sites would make interference unlikely.

• Yu Ci sensed his connection to the little fellow across hundreds of li, maintained it until it broke at roughly a thousand li, and then rested with a Soul-Nourishing Pill.
• After the Manifestation Flying Boat stopped underground, Yu Ci entered the hall and saw Wen Shifei, Di Tianluo, and Di She gathered around a blood shadow.
• Yu Ci approached Incense Slave, but Wen Shifei confronted him, mistook him for a Half-Mountain Island cultivator, and made a taunting remark before reaching for his shoulder.
• Yu Ci tried to block Wen Shifei, but the Sunken Sword Cave master immobilized them both and announced that the secret realm lay ahead.
• The Sunken Sword Cave master warned the cultivators not to hide a particular item he sought, admitted he would claim other treasures if he found them, and described the realm’s fragmented sites as difficult for others to interfere with.

Yu Ci and the others used the Heavenly Evolution Pearls to locate and open a passage into the Sword Immortal Secret Realm, while the Sunken Sword Cave master kept them under his control. After entering the secret realm, they encountered a mysterious newcomer at Sitong Pavilion.

• Tie Lan distributed Heavenly Evolution Pearls and coordinated the group's calculations to find the hidden mark in the secret realm.
• The Sunken Sword Cave master used the Void Anchor to tear open a passage into the Sword Immortal Secret Realm.
• When an unstable passage opened nearby, four Rogue Cultivators tried to escape, but Tie Lan intercepted them.
• The Sunken Sword Cave master ordered the remaining group through the completed fissure, and they arrived in a sunlit garden beside Sitong Pavilion.
• A newcomer stepped out of the pavilion and asked whether anyone besides the little demon brats could reach that place.

Yu Ci and the other cultivators used Heavenly Evolution Pearls to open a void tunnel into the Sword Immortal Secret Realm, while the master of Sunken Sword Cave kept them under his control. They arrived at SITONG Pavilion beneath a projection of the True Sun Fire, where an unknown figure emerged.

• Tie Lan gave the cultivators Heavenly Evolution Pearls and had them work together to calculate the secret realm’s coordinates.
• The master of Sunken Sword Cave used a Void Anchor to open a tunnel into the secret realm.
• Four rogue cultivators tried to escape through an unstable passage, and Tie Lan intercepted them as golden baleful intent swept through the area.
• The master ordered the remaining cultivators to enter the completed tunnel, and Yu Ci and the others arrived in the secret realm beneath projected sunlight.
• A figure opened the door of SITONG Pavilion and asked whether anyone besides the demonic runts had reached the place.

Yu Ci and the others learned that breaking the secret realm’s talismanic seals was the only way to regain access to its passages and seek treasures. After studying the first seal, Yu Ci recognized it from the Sunken Sword Cave and devised a plan to examine it during its next activation, but he discovered Incense Slave had disappeared.

• The master of Sunken Sword Cave gave Yu Ci a talisman-sealed javelin and explained that the Heavy Artifact Sect had misunderstood how to escape the secret realm.
• The master activated the first talismanic seal, and the cultivators endured its crushing pressure as Yu Ci imprinted its patterns in his Inner Void.
• The master proposed that the group remain by SITONG Pavilion and study the seal, promising to divide treasures among them if they broke its first layer.
• The group settled among the ruins, and Yu Ci recognized the seal as the talisman he had seen in the Sunken Sword Cave cavern.
• Yu Ci decided to study the seal during its next activation, then opened his eyes and found Incense Slave missing.

Yu Ci discovered that his mind-intent starlight could pass through the garden’s Void Rifts and locate possible routes to other places, while another cultivator activated the first layer of the talismanic seal. He used the seal’s changing manifestations to refine his understanding of its patterns, then chose to simplify the pattern connected to Sword Qi.

• Yu Ci followed Incense Slave into a dangerous part of the garden and sent mind-intent starlights into its Void Rifts, where they vanished on their own.
• Someone elsewhere triggered the first layer of the talismanic seal, and the master of the Sunken Sword Cave urged Yu Ci to study its manifestation.
• Yu Ci traced three starlights to living beings beyond the rifts: a bird in a lush place, a demon in a dark realm, and a cultivator in a snowy wilderness.
• Yu Ci compared the changing seal activation with its earlier manifestation and realized that simplifying its fractal patterns could help him control or break the seal.
• Yu Ci rebuilt his analysis around the seal’s sensing, vital-energy, and Sword Qi patterns, then focused on simplifying the Sword Qi pattern.

Yu Ci reconstructed the first-layer talisman seal using his seed true talisman, but a sword intent from the Sunken Sword Cave followed a divine intent starlight into his inner void and began destroying his work. As the secret realm’s talisman seals erupted into chaos, a new aura pierced through both layers, leaving the cultivators stunned.

• Yu Ci pieced together the talismanic fractal and sensed the sword intent left by the senior sword immortal.
• Yu Ci received a vision from a divine intent starlight’s parasitic target in the Sunken Sword Cave, where the Sacrificial Sword Platform’s Geng Metal Qi killed the target.
• The sword intent pursued the starlight’s path into Yu Ci’s inner void and repeatedly destroyed the talisman seal he had reconstructed.
• The sword intent struck the central talismanic characters, causing the talismanic fractals to flare and the garden to tremble.
• The master of the Sunken Sword Cave warned the cultivators against trying to seize control of the secret realm’s talisman seals, then escaped their fierce counterattack.
• A new aura pierced through the chaotic first and second talisman seals, and Di She announced that it had entered.

The master of Sunken Sword Cave triggered all three layers of talisman seals, devastating the garden and apparently disappearing in the resulting tribulation lightning. As Wen Shifei and the others turned their attention to Yu Ci, nine Heavy Artifact Sect cultivators surrounded them, and Yu Ci awoke from his meditation.

• The master of Sunken Sword Cave revealed his ghostly, grievance-filled nature and broke through all three layers of talisman seals, unleashing a devastating strike of tribulation lightning.
• Wen Shifei, Di Tianluo, Di She, and Incense Slave survived the blast, while Tie Lan shielded Yu Ci and was left severely weakened.
• Wen Shifei stored Tie Lan in a porcelain vase despite Di She's interest in the Iron Soul Returning Spirit Pearl, and Di She moved toward Yu Ci.
• Incense Slave warned Di She off, but nine armored Heavy Artifact Sect cultivators descended and formed a barrier around the group.
• Yu Ci opened his eyes, and the cultivators surrounding him felt an unmistakable chill.

Yu Ci confronted the Heavy Artifact Sect in the secret realm while his vision filled with flowing talismanic forms, and Incense Slave was swept through a void rift into Sunken Sword Cave. As the armored cultivators attacked, Yu Ci drew a chilling ray with his bare hands and faced their javelins.

• Elder Ma announced that the Heavy Artifact Sect had occupied the secret realm and ordered everyone to leave or be executed.
• Wen Shifei, Di Tianro, and Di She escaped through the void using the Black Lightning Shuttle, while Yu Ci remained behind with Incense Slave.
• Yu Ci asked Incense Slave about the Rakshasa Sect's connection to Ye Bin, and the revelation drew the attention of a powerful entity linked to the void.
• A sudden force hurled Incense Slave through a void rift into Sunken Sword Cave, where she encountered Ye Ming and other Half-Mountain cultivators emerging from the golden light.
• Yu Ci refused to flee, shattered the talismanic forms before his eyes with a bare-handed slash, and met Elder Ma's javelin attack with a chilling ray.

Yu Ci used the talisman seal to unleash a devastating sword strike, then suffered severe backlash and worked with Lord Xuan Huang to simplify the seal’s patterns. After two hours of progress, he opened his eyes to find the mystic realm transformed and a dangerous shadow approaching.

• Yu Ci’s sword light cut through the Heavy Artifact Sect formation, killing eight cultivators, while Elder Ma and the Thunder God Face Female Cultivator realized Yu Ci had merged with the talisman seal.
• Yu Ci vanished into the seal, then suffered widespread internal injuries from the backlash and entered the Inner Void to recover.
• Yu Ci argued with Lord Xuan Huang over the talisman patterns and persuaded him to allow a safer, simplified method.
• Yu Ci spent two hours reducing the seal’s immense pattern system to eight thousand elements as his injuries gradually improved.
• Lord Xuan Huang warned Yu Ci that a shadow was approaching, and Yu Ci saw that the mystic realm had changed, with suspended palaces and violent sword intent beyond the clouds.

Yu Ci defeated a shadow in Mist Shadow Heaven and used its sword intent to strengthen his sword pellet, but he remained unable to control the sigil’s core. When Eastern Marquis’s shadow appeared, Yu Ci focused his mind and made the Life and Death Talisman begin absorbing the surrounding sigil patterns.

• Yu Ci cut apart a shadow’s lightning attack and destroyed the figure, then took its sword imprint.
• Yu Ci fed the imprint to Daoist Yan’s incomplete sword pellet, which absorbed the sword intent.
• Xuan Huang explained that Mist Shadow Heaven contained imprints of eight thousand sword cultivators from the western expedition, each manifested from Lord Wujie’s memories.
• Eastern Marquis’s shadow attacked Yu Ci with overwhelming sword pressure, leaving him unable to fight effectively.
• Yu Ci rejected relying on Xuan Huang and concentrated on controlling the sigil, causing the Life and Death Talisman to draw in the surrounding sigil patterns.

Yu Ci awakened the innate divine ability of Analysis, used it to optimize the first layer of talisman seals, and defeated Dong Hou's Shadow. As Yu Ci took control of the seals and sensed the secret realm, he suddenly asked Xuan Huang how many times his daughter had been married.

• Yu Ci awakened another self within the Life and Death Talisman, whose talisman-art insights revealed a solution to the fractal arrangement.
• Yu Ci formed seven key fractals and sixty-four aperture-eyes, restoring the Life and Death Talisman's power and weakening the sword pressure.
• Yu Ci made the first and second layers of talisman seals conflict, disrupted Dong Hou's Shadow, and destroyed it with one strike.
• Xuan Huang identified Yu Ci's innate divine ability as Analysis, and Yu Ci realized he had gained it after achieving the Yin God.
• Yu Ci used Layered Aperture Form Integration to replace the first layer's operating mode and began imprinting his mark on its core.
• Yu Ci sensed something through his expanding perception and asked Xuan Huang how many times his daughter had been married.

Yu Ci learned how Qu Wujie’s shadow became the master of the Sunken Sword Cave and how it ambushed Qu Wujie and trapped Xuan Huang. After Xuan Huang gave Yu Ci a way to preserve Dong Hou’s sword intent and directed him toward shelter, the master of the Sunken Sword Cave appeared to be approaching.

• Yu Ci drove away an unknown intruder who had been infiltrating the seal core, then discussed the second-layer seal and Dong Hou’s sword intent with Xuan Huang.
• Xuan Huang explained that Qu Wujie had created a shadow of himself while attempting to open a passage to the Land of Eternal Damnation and guide the lost sword immortals home.
• Xuan Huang recounted how the master of the Sunken Sword Cave ambushed Qu Wujie, survived his counterattack, and later trapped Xuan Huang beneath the Sacrificial Sword Platform.
• Yu Ci apologized to Xuan Huang, who taught him to seal Dong Hou’s sword intent in a pearl that would last about ten days.
• Xuan Huang told Yu Ci to seek shelter at the Cloud-Born Pavilion near Dong Hou’s side, but Yu Ci sensed the master of the Sunken Sword Cave coming down.

Yu Ci sought refuge in Donghou’s Cloud-Born Pavilion while the master of Sunken Sword Cave searched Mist Shadow Heaven, and Xuan Huang revealed that the secret realm’s core held Yuan Dao’s coffin. Concluding that concealment would not last, Yu Ci opened the gates to the secret realm and left the next move to the tens of thousands of waiting cultivators.

• Yu Ci and Xuan Huang entered Donghou’s Cloud-Born Pavilion as the master of Sunken Sword Cave’s divine intent triggered seals throughout Mist Shadow Heaven.
• Xuan Huang identified the meditation cushion and Heavenly Evolution Pearl as tools the master of Sunken Sword Cave could use to sense or control others, so Yu Ci cast them out of the secret realm’s core area.
• Yu Ci learned that the Guixu at the secret realm’s core held Yuan Dao’s coffin and suspected the master of Sunken Sword Cave was using cultivators to pursue his goal.
• Yu Ci decided to hide from the conflict, but realized the pavilion’s unnaturally clean surroundings could not conceal him for long.
• Yu Ci sent his mind through the first-layer talisman seal, and the gates opened for the tens of thousands of cultivators waiting outside the secret realm.