Chapter Summaries

Yang Huai met two instructors from Dachang Dao Academy and discovered that his innate qualities were unusually apparent. After a spirit snake named Jin Meng sought his help with a flood dragon transformation tribulation, Yang Huai lent him innate essence qi, and Jin Meng transformed and flew away as flooding threatened Pingshan Town.

• Yang Huai spoke with Chang Ling and Wang Wu, who warned him that his exceptional appearance and aptitude could attract trouble near the Profound Mystery Sect.
• Yang Huai noticed two mysterious men playing Go in the tavern, chose not to approach them, and went to an inn for the night.
• Jin Meng, a wounded spirit snake near Pingshan Town, entered Yang Huai's dream and asked for help controlling the floods caused by his transformation tribulation.
• Yang Huai questioned Jin Meng about his past and intentions, then agreed to help after Jin Meng promised to resolve the floods and avoid harming people.
• Yang Huai gave Jin Meng a strand of innate essence qi, enabling him to burn away his yin dregs, transform into a flood dragon, and fly off; a golden snakeskin vest appeared beside Yang Huai's bed.
• The traveler with the ancient sword watched the flood dragon rise, then looked toward another streak of light near the moon and vanished.

Yang Huai traveled toward Yanxian Town after the flood around Pingshan Town receded, drawing the attention of Zhang Qingning and the Dao students. On the road, he recognized a hidden mystery in two elders’ Go game, and the middle-aged swordsman declared that Yang Huai shared a great affinity with him.

• A golden flood dragon cleared the flooding from the Clearwater River after a straw-caped swordsman spared it and warned it to honor its promise.
• Yang Huai left Pingshan Town by ox cart and declined Zhang Qingning’s invitation to ride with him, despite the interest and hostility of the Dao students.
• Yang Huai spotted the white-haired Daoist and the middle-aged swordsman playing Go near Yanxian Town and sensed something extraordinary in their board.
• Chang Ling, Wang Wu, Zhang Qingning, and the other Dao students could not perceive the board’s mystery, while the swordsman’s rebuke made a burly student faint.
• Yang Huai saw the hidden significance of the Go game, and a golden glow enveloped him before withdrawing as the swordsman said Yang Huai shared a great affinity with him.

Yang Huai gained a deep understanding of swordsmanship while watching two Daoists’ chessboard duel, and the middle-aged swordsman of the Profound Mystery Sect decided to await him there. Yang Huai continued to Yanxian Town, where young candidates searched for tokens to enter Yama Demon Valley, and he asked an old woman for hers.

• Yang Huai focused on the golden sword radiance in the chessboard vision, comprehended a thread of sword intent, and impressed the middle-aged swordsman.
• The white-haired old Daoist left, while the middle-aged swordsman chose not to grant Yang Huai special entry and planned to test him through the usual process.
• Yang Huai learned the middle-aged swordsman belonged to the Profound Mystery Sect and continued toward Yanxian Town, expecting to enter the sect by braving Yama Demon Valley.
• A group of mounted riders rushed into town, knocking an old woman’s sack of flour into the mud; children and the chubby boy compensated her while hoping she would reveal a token.
• After the children left disappointed, Yang Huai approached the old woman and asked for her token.

Yang Huai obtained a Profound Mystery Sect jade sword token and drew the attention of the sect’s hidden elders, who discovered that he possessed an innate spirit body. In Yanxian Town, he then challenged a butcher he suspected was a disguised Daoist True Person, ending the chapter by revealing terrifying killing intent.

• Yang Huai saw through an old woman’s disguise, received a jade sword token from her, and subdued Shen Miaoyu when she tried to take it.
• Yang Huai kept the token rather than activating it and entered Yanxian Town as Shen Miaoyu vowed to surpass him.
• The Profound Mystery Sect elders watched candidates through a treasured mirror, recognized Zhang Qingning’s aptitude, and discovered Yang Huai radiating the sign of an innate spirit body.
• Yang Huai identified Butcher Zhao as a likely hidden expert and asked him for an entry token, but Butcher Zhao denied being anything more than a butcher.
• Yang Huai unleashed a chilling golden-red sword radiance and killing intent, frightening the onlookers and leaving Butcher Zhao visibly shocked.

Yang Huai collected five Jade Sword Talismans in Yanxian Town and entered Yama Demon Valley, where the Reincarnation Mirror began revealing his past and extraordinary fate. The mirror showed both metal and wood fates, leaving the watching Daoists uncertain whether the two elements would clash or complement each other.

• Butcher Zhao gave Yang Huai a Jade Sword Talisman after acknowledging his pure killing intent, while Daoists argued over which peak should recruit him.
• Yang Huai abandoned his attempt to buy a hairpin after Daoist students crowded the stall, then collected tokens by shopping and using Swordheart Clarity at a tofu stall.
• After obtaining five Jade Sword Talismans, Yang Huai sensed growing hostility and vanished from Yanxian Town before Wu Hanyao and his armored companion could steal his tokens.
• Zhang Qingning and her companion watched Yang Huai leave, then decided to seek a Jade Sword Talisman themselves.
• The Daoists shifted their mirror's image to Yama Demon Valley and watched the Reincarnation Mirror reveal fragments of Yang Huai's life and his metal and wood fates.
• The Daoists debated whether Yang Huai's metal and wood fates would clash and hinder him or take distinct roles and support each other.

Yang Huai passed the Reincarnation Mirror and the mountains of blades and seas of fire, impressing the Profound Mystery Sect elders with his aptitude and resolve. After learning that Martial Granduncle had already taken him as a disciple, he met Luo Xiang and asked about the sect’s inheritances, only to hear that focusing solely on Verdant Gold Peak’s sword art would waste his exceptional foundation.

• The elders recognized Yang Huai’s Innate Geng Metal Dao Body and watched him break free of the Reincarnation Mirror’s visions in one-third of an incense stick, earning a top grade A disposition evaluation.
• Yang Huai threw his four Jade Sword Talismans into the sea of fire, then crossed the trial while the Infernal True Fire tempered his soul and sharpened his Swordheart Clarity.
• Shao Lingzong told the elders that Martial Granduncle had already taken Yang Huai as a disciple, ending their hopes of recruiting him for their peaks.
• Yang Huai reached the cloud-sea platform and met Luo Xiang, who explained the six peaks and their inheritances after Yang Huai asked which peak excelled at flying sword arts.
• Luo Xiang praised Verdant Gold Peak’s White Tiger Spirit Sword Art, but an unseen voice warned Yang Huai that cultivating only one of the Six Divine Powers’ Origins would waste his exceptional foundation.

Jiang Yuexin brought Yang Huai to Chaoshou Peak, where Daoist Guangrong accepted him as a disciple of the Profound Mystery Sect. Daoist Guangrong promised to seek the sect master's approval for Yang Huai to enter the Patriarch Hall and learn the Mysterious Heaven Golden Register.

• Jiang Yuexin recognized Luo Xiang as Danqing's disciple, then revealed that Yang Huai's Spirit-Link Sword Intent connected him to the same master lineage.
• Jiang Yuexin carried Yang Huai to Chaoshou Peak to meet Daoist Guangrong, while Luo Xiang remained behind to await the other trial passers.
• Yang Huai formally asked Daoist Guangrong to accept him, and Daoist Guangrong welcomed him as a disciple and explained the sect's Yue generation naming convention.
• Daoist Guangrong told Yang Huai he would study in the scripture halls and confirmed that his Lesser Circulatory Cycle Method was a recognized Foundation Establishment text.
• Daoist Guangrong explained the Profound Mystery Sect's two orthodox scriptures and promised to ask the sect master to open the Patriarch Hall so Yang Huai could receive the Mysterious Heaven Golden Register.

Yang Huai received the Mysterious Heaven Golden Register as a core true disciple of the Profound Mystery Sect and began his studies at Chaoshou Peak. As he prepared for his second cyclic cicada molt, a winged tiger appeared in his dream and asked whether he remembered his former household’s old retainers.

• Daoist Guangrong told Yang Huai that the Six Divine Powers Origin Art was a secret inheritance and promised to explain it once Yang Huai cultivated dharma power.
• Yang Huai met Luo Xiang, Zhang Qingning, Wu Hanyao, Cheng Yunzhu, and Shen Miaoyu, and the six disciples attended the Ancestral Hall ceremony.
• The patriarchs bestowed the Mysterious Heaven Golden Register upon Yang Huai, while Luo Xiang and Zhang Qingning received the Primordial Mystery Orthodox Method.
• Daoist Guangrong and Jiang Yuexin encouraged Yang Huai and told him that his senior sister had prepared a flying sword for him to receive after Foundation Establishment.
• Yang Huai registered at the Scripture Hall, collected Daoist scriptures, and focused on preparing for his second cyclic cicada molt to mend his Innate Geng Metal Dao Body.
• A winged tiger appeared in Yang Huai’s dream and asked whether he remembered the old retainers of his former household.

Yang Huai received a rare immortal medicine from Yuan Xiuxiu and used it to complete his Innate Geng Metal Dao Body during his second Great Cycle Cicada Molt. After awakening his sword-related abilities, he began cultivating dharma power at an exceptional speed, leaving the Profound Mystery Sect disciples astonished.

• In Yang Huai's dream, the donkey revealed itself as the Winged Tiger, delivered Yuan Xiuxiu's jade box, and told him that she was injured and needed to recover.
• Yang Huai opened the box, recognized the Nine-Leaf Wishful Snow Jade Lingzhi, and resolved to cultivate until he could help Yuan Xiuxiu face her powerful enemies.
• Daoist Guangrong advised Yang Huai before his foundation-establishment attempt and supplied pills and medicinal fluids for his cultivation.
• Yang Huai consumed a branch of the lingzhi and began his second Great Cycle Cicada Molt, drawing crowds as immense metal spiritual qi gathered above his cave.
• Yang Huai completed his Innate Geng Metal Dao Body, awakened Man and Sword as One, and effortlessly activated Daoist Xuanzhen's silver sword pellet.
• Yang Huai began cultivating dharma power with the Mysterious Heaven Golden Register and found he could complete Gathering Qi in about three months.

Yang Huai emerged from seclusion after cultivating Golden Register dharma power, and his senior siblings explained how the All-Spirits Ranking aided the Profound Mystery Sect’s Six Divine Powers Origin Art. He chose to cultivate the White Tiger Spirit Sword Art, and Jiang Rongyue gave him a flying sword.

• Yang Huai left the mountain cave after half a month of cultivation, and Jiang Yuexin welcomed him and took him to Daoist Guangrong.
• Jiang Rongyue and Jiang Yuexin explained that the All-Spirits Ranking contained Dao attainments needed to cultivate the Six Divine Powers Origin Art and described the six peak inheritances.
• Yang Huai learned about the divine beast arts and chose the White Tiger Spirit Sword Art to develop his Innate Geng Metal Dao Body.
• Daoist Guangrong agreed to notify Verdant Gold Peak and told Yang Huai he could seek guidance from him or his Eldest Senior Brother.
• Jiang Rongyue gave Yang Huai an emerald-gold flying sword and asked him to see whether it suited him.

Yang Huai drew the ancient sword Junting and began learning sword-nurturing methods and sword arts from Jiang Yuexin, while discovering the sword’s former master had been the fallen Sword Immortal Liyang. After two months of rapid cultivation, Yang Huai completed all 108 strands of magic power, and the Bronze Mirror announced that anchored-object reorganization was complete.

• Yang Huai used Unity of Man and Sword to draw Junting, and Jiang Rongyue gave him the sword while warning him to honor its former master’s aspirations.
• Jiang Yuexin gave Yang Huai the annotated Sword-Nurturing Art and taught him the Three Lives Sword Method and Great Five-Star Sword Art, which Yang Huai quickly mastered.
• Jiang Yuexin revealed that Junting had belonged to Liyang, one of the Twelve Sword Immortals who fell during a demonic calamity, and warned Yang Huai that the sword carried trouble.
• Yang Huai studied the Sword-Nurturing Art, nourished Junting with his magic power, and received the White Tiger Spirit Sword Art at Verdant Gold Peak.
• Over the next two months, Yang Huai cultivated and practiced swordsmanship until all 108 strands of his magic power reached completion, and the Bronze Mirror reported that anchored-object reorganization was complete.

Yang Huai broke through to the Mystic Light realm and began his third projection, becoming an innate strange vine in a mountain medicinal garden. He resolved to cultivate and fulfill the vine’s wishes before a dangerous white rabbit reached him.

• Yang Huai condensed his dharma power into Mystic Light, collected Mystic Light cultivation texts and a stipend, and received medicinal pills from Daoist Guangrong.
• Yang Huai used the Junting Ancient Sword as a warning guard and entered his third projection through the Bronze Mirror.
• Yang Huai found that he had become a ten-year-old innate strange vine whose wishes were to take human form and win the Daoist temple mistress’s favor.
• Yang Huai examined the vine’s memories, learned that the unguarded garden was vulnerable to beasts, and decided to cultivate toward fulfilling the vine’s wishes.
• Yang Huai spotted a big white rabbit approaching the medicinal garden and recognized it as his nemesis.

Yang Huai strengthened the Innate Exotic Vine while observing powerful spirit beasts at night, including a golden toad and a true dragon. Back at the Profound Mystery Sect, he asked Jiang Yuexin to let him cultivate the Azure Dragon Everlasting Spring Art alongside his current cultivation.

• A spirit rabbit entered the medicinal garden, ate a Green Pearl Grass plant, Solomon's Seal leaves, and a thousand-year fruit, then left Yang Huai alone.
• Yang Huai guided the Innate Exotic Vine to absorb gold spirit power, strengthening its roots and vines, and tested his soul arts, including the White Tiger Spirit Sword Art.
• At night, Yang Huai hid his presence as a golden toad gathered moonlight and a colossal golden dragon flew beyond the peaks.
• The next day at the Profound Mystery Sect, Yang Huai went to Chaoshou Peak and asked Jiang Yuexin about cultivating the Azure Dragon Everlasting Spring Art alongside his current cultivation.
• Yang Huai explained that he hoped studying the Azure Dragon art would help him understand the White Tiger True Form Diagram, while privately intending to learn from the true dragon he had seen and aid the vine's growth.

Yang Huai convinced Jiang Yuexin and Daoist Chaoyuan that he had mastered the White Tiger Spirit Sword Art, earning permission to learn Starlight Peak’s Azure Dragon Everlasting Spring Art. After learning about demon transformation, he returned to his innate strange vine identity and found a beautiful woman inspecting him as a strange weed.

• Yang Huai demonstrated the White Tiger Spirit Sword Art at minor mastery, and Jiang Yuexin took him to meet Daoist Chaoyuan at Starlight Peak.
• Daoist Chaoyuan agreed to teach Yang Huai the Azure Dragon Everlasting Spring Art and keep his White Tiger mastery secret for several years.
• Yang Huai studied the Azure Dragon Everlasting Spring Art and considered using his innate strange vine body to master it and combine its true intent with his swordsmanship.
• Jiang Yuexin explained how demons cultivate and transform by condensing their essence into a demon core, a process that can attract a lightning tribulation.
• Yang Huai returned to his innate strange vine identity and found a beautiful woman crouching before him, wondering aloud about the strange weed.

Yang Huai survived the temple master’s attention, grew stronger as a Primordial Strange Vine, and discovered the Golden Dragon among the beasts gathered to eavesdrop on Daoists at the temple. Seeing a chance to learn how to cultivate his Azure Dragon form, he offered the Golden Dragon a way to get closer in exchange for guidance.

• The temple master watered the herb garden with silvery jade liquid, and Yang Huai absorbed its power into his roots instead of tempering his true body.
• Yang Huai began absorbing heaven-and-earth metal spiritual energy freely, expanded his roots underground, and waited for the Golden Dragon to appear.
• Several powerful Daoists visited the temple, and Yang Huai stopped listening to their profound discussion when it strained his spiritual perception.
• The Golden Toad, a white rabbit, several spirit beasts, and a disguised Golden Dragon gathered near the temple to eavesdrop.
• Yang Huai briefly formed an Azure Dragon shadow from the Golden Dragon’s presence, then stopped when its dragon nature threatened to affect his soul and body.
• Yang Huai offered to help the Golden Dragon get closer to the courtyard’s Dao sounds in exchange for guidance.

Yang Huai helped Golden Dragon secretly listen to the Daoist temple’s teachings and received guidance that let him successfully cultivate the Azure Dragon True-Form Diagram. The temple master forgave his scheme but questioned his ambition to follow the True Dragon path.

• Yang Huai used his roots to guide Golden Dragon underground to a boundary where it could listen to the temple’s Dao sounds without entering the grounds.
• After listening, Golden Dragon advised Yang Huai to visualize a young dragon rather than an adult True Dragon, and Yang Huai successfully formed an azure dragon soul.
• Golden Dragon left, and Yang Huai sensed nearby spirit beasts eyeing him as the Dao sounds faded and the temple guests departed.
• The temple master confronted Yang Huai about accommodating Golden Dragon, then let him off with a warning because he had shown restraint.
• The temple master disparaged Yang Huai’s True Dragon inheritance, and Yang Huai defended the value of gradual progress before she asked what he meant by “gentleman.”

Yang Huai sought a quiet place to practice swordsmanship, but Jiang Rongyue took him to Spirit Fox Valley and ordered him to kill the evil cultivators there. He discovered the cultivators’ horrific blood sacrifice and faced the valley’s leader, Thousand Fox Daoist.

• Yang Huai fused the White Tiger Spirit Sword Art with the Azure Dragon Everlasting Spring Art while practicing, then impressed the scripture hall with his test results.
• Yang Huai asked Jiang Yuexin for a quiet place to practice, and Jiang Yuexin brought him to Jiang Rongyue to request her Myriad Swords of Heaven and Earth Diagram.
• Jiang Rongyue instead carried Yang Huai to Spirit Fox Valley and ordered him to kill its fourteen demons and devils without relying on others.
• Yang Huai entered the valley’s misty formation and sensed the resentment of ghosts made from murdered pregnant women.
• Yang Huai found the cultivators sacrificing pregnant women to complete the Mother-and-Son Nine Yin Sword, and Thousand Fox Daoist noticed his arrival.

Yang Huai and Jiang Rongyue destroyed Spirit Fox Valley and rescued its captives, then traveled to an underwater manor where Jiang Rongyue planned to train him against opponents in the coming days. The chapter also showed Yang Huai tending the Daoist temple as a spiritual vine, while Daoist Guangrong and Jiang Yuexin discussed his talent and temperament.

• Yang Huai killed Thousand Fox Ancestor and the other black-robed Daoists, destroyed the Child-Mother Netherworld Sword, and healed the surviving pregnant women.
• Jiang Rongyue killed a young disciple Yang Huai believed was innocent, prompting him to perform Daoheart Deliverance for the man's soul and the valley's lingering resentment.
• Yang Huai and Jiang Rongyue escorted the rescued women and children home, and Jiang Rongyue helped them with money; Daoist Guangrong and Jiang Yuexin watched and praised Yang Huai's cultivation and restraint.
• Jiang Rongyue took Yang Huai to an underwater manor and told him that his upcoming cultivation would involve fighting in the currents and facing formidable opponents.
• As a spiritual vine, Yang Huai tended the Daoist temple's grounds with his roots, Azure Dragon Everlasting Spring Art, and White Tiger Spirit Sword qi.

The temple mistress rewarded Yang Huai with an osmanthus seed, strengthening his soul and transforming his vines, then entrusted the Daoist temple to him while she visited friends. After she left, the snow-white rabbit returned and used its strange movement to approach him.

• The temple mistress gave Yang Huai an osmanthus seed, which he refined to boost his soul, extend his senses, and grow powerful, far-reaching vines.
• Yang Huai discovered that the stronger his innate strange vine became, the harder it would be for it to balance its cultivation and take human form.
• The golden toad envied Yang Huai’s good fortune but feared approaching the temple mistress.
• The temple mistress warned Yang Huai away from her True Solar Fire and bestowed an ancient-god Heavenly Gate Golden Chapter for him to cultivate.
• The temple mistress left to visit friends and ordered Yang Huai to care for the temple, its rooms, the courtyard, and the medicinal garden.
• The snow-white rabbit returned and suddenly vanished and reappeared near Yang Huai, prompting him to activate the Little Vajra Incantation.

Yang Huai fought off a powerful spirit rabbit in Kunlun Mountain, then answered Junting’s summons and discovered a merfolk spirit in the water mansion. After exposing and killing the demoness behind the haunting mural, he left Jiang Rongyue stunned at the doorway.

• Yang Huai used his golden vines and a blue-gold sword beam to wound the giant white rabbit, which fled after biting through one vine and draining his life force.
• Yang Huai watched other spirit beasts retreat, then withdrew his consciousness from the vine body when Junting called him back to the water mansion.
• A merfolk princess claimed she was imprisoned in the mural and asked Yang Huai to save her, but he recognized her baleful aura and attacked.
• The mermaid revealed her true form and trapped Yang Huai in a dark realm, using a Beauty Painting filled with the tortured souls of merfolk women.
• Yang Huai’s golden Dharma Body and Junting Sword overcame the demoness’s attacks, and he killed her despite her claim that she was Fire Spirit True Lord’s daughter.
• Jiang Rongyue witnessed Yang Huai standing amid the demoness’s defeat and was momentarily stunned.