Chapter Summaries

Jiang Ning stayed overnight at Water-Moon Sword Palace, trained his Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword, and collected the tribute Xiao Emei had prepared. Afterward, he planned to visit Divine Sword Manor for more resources before traveling to the Royal Capital for the military imperial examination.

• Xiao Emei gave Jiang Ning her room for the night and slept on the couch outside.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword, clearing the mist over Moon-Reflection Lake and astonishing the palace disciples who witnessed his power.
• Jiang Ning continued training and increased his sword skill experience while Xiao Emei watched and prepared to take him to the treasury.
• Xiao Emei led Jiang Ning into the treasury, where he collected three boxes of heavenly treasures and more than ten Crimsonflame Blood Crystals as tribute.
• Jiang Ning decided to visit Divine Sword Manor for its tribute and build his strength before the metropolitan examination in the Royal Capital.

Jiang Ning visited Divine Sword Manor and accepted the resources Shangguan Feilong had gathered for his next blood exchange, then tested how much the Great Sun Furnace had improved his refinement. Elsewhere, the young man summoned the Yellow Heaven Daoist because he feared Little White had been discovered and could not trace what had happened himself.

• Shangguan Feilong welcomed Jiang Ning to Divine Sword Manor and explained that his health had improved since Sword Nine was taken away.
• Shangguan Feilong led Jiang Ning to the treasury and presented him with fifty-three Crimsonflame Blood Crystals he had purchased for Jiang Ning.
• Jiang Ning praised Shangguan Feilong’s preparations and calculated that the crystals would provide enough resources for his eighth blood exchange.
• Jiang Ning swallowed a Crimsonflame Blood Crystal and found that the Great Sun Furnace refined it with roughly fifty percent greater effect than before.
• On an unnamed island in Luo Water Lake, the young man told the Yellow Heaven Daoist that Little White might have been discovered and asked for help tracing the past.

Yellow Heaven Daoist prepared to rebel against Great Xia, setting the uprising for the turn of autumn and winter after Xiao Wuque discovered them. In Dongling City, Jiang Ning learned that refugees were fleeing famine in neighboring Xichuan Commandery, then agreed to help Jiang Yiming ask his parents to support his engagement to Lin Jiaxin.

• Yellow Heaven Daoist told his disciple Jing'er that Huang Tianhua and the others should gather for an uprising at the turn of autumn and winter, arguing that Great Xia was failing and a new dynasty would eventually unite the Nine Provinces.
• Jiang Ning saw refugees entering Dongling City and learned from a soldier that drought and locust plagues had driven them from Xichuan Commandery.
• Jiang Ning visited the shanty district, where Wang Shouyi explained that Dongling had grain stores but that worsening famine might force him to bar refugees from the city.
• Wang Shouyi asked Jiang Ning to protect his two daughters if disaster befell him, and Jiang Ning promised he would.
• Jiang Ning returned home and learned that Jiang Yiming had come back from the Martial Academy on leave.
• Jiang Yiming asked Jiang Ning to speak with his parents and help arrange an engagement to Lin Jiaxin, and Jiang Ning agreed.

Jiang Ning supported Jiang Yiming’s wish to pursue Lin Jiaxin and comforted Zhong Ling, who was struggling with her great-grandfather’s absence. As famine worsened across the region, Jiang Ning focused on improving his strength, and his sword practice astonished those who witnessed it.

• Jiang Ning backed Jiang Yiming’s feelings for Lin Jiaxin, promised to handle the status difference, and said he would take Yiming to Lin Manor the next day.
• Jiang Ning reassured Zhong Ling that her great-grandfather had not abandoned her and offered to let her stay in his courtyard with Linglong.
• Jiang Ning reflected on the growing famine, Dongling City’s dwindling grain, and the danger posed by the Grotto-Heaven before deciding to prioritize his strength.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword and unleashed a powerful strike that shook the night sky.
• Zhong Ling praised Jiang Ning’s display, while Bai Luoyu stopped comparing himself to Jiang Ning and resolved to surpass his own limits; Zhao Yulong marveled at Jiang Ning’s growing power.

Jiang Ning practiced controlling the force of his sword art, then brought his nephew Jiang Yiming to the Lin Clan to learn about Lin Jiaxin and their relationship. The Lin family’s disapproval gave way to a meeting with Jiang Ning, where Lin Zhenxing began to realize why Jiang Ning had come.

• Jiang Ning refined his sword practice until he could suppress its force into a single thunderclap, and Zhong Ling regained some of her liveliness.
• Feng Jiге told Jiang Ning that Lin Jiaxin was a well-regarded eighth-rank martial artist, and Jiang Ning said he would leave the choice of a match to Jiang Yiming.
• Jiang Ning took Jiang Yiming and Feng Jiге to visit the Lin Clan, while Lin Zhenbei scolded Lin Jiaxin for loving a constable’s son and dismissed Jiang Yiming’s prospects.
• Steward Li summoned Lin Zhenbei and Lin Jiaxin to meet Inspector Jiang, who was waiting with Lin Zhenxing in the reception hall.
• Jiang Ning introduced Jiang Yiming as his nephew, and Lin Jiaxin recognized him; Lin Zhenxing noticed their exchanged glances and suspected they were in love.

Jiang Ning secured the Lin Clan’s approval for Jiang Yiming and Lin Jiaxin, then broke through his Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword and gained the purple Sword Seed trait. He left for Dongling Mountain Range to test the trait and found that it greatly increased his sword-training gains, including for the Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword.

• Jiang Zhenbei welcomed Jiang Ning’s support for Jiang Yiming and Lin Jiaxin, and the young couple strolled together in the rear garden.
• Lin Jia'er watched Jiang Ning depart and admitted to her father that she had missed her chance with him, while Jiang Ning urged Jiang Yiming to train hard and wait until he was at least twenty to marry.
• After returning home, Jiang Ning completed his Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword training and spent source energy to break through, gaining the light purple Sword Seed trait.
• Jiang Ning tested the Sword Seed in Dongling Mountain Range and found that his Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword experience gains had risen to around a hundred per practice round.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword and saw its experience gains improve as well.

Jiang Ning repeatedly broke through the Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword, gaining the Star Rotation and Two Forms Fusion traits and greatly improving his sword attainment. He found that the sword art’s progress had slowed, but his increased attainment helped him practice the Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword more efficiently, so he began testing the Grand Void Yin-Yang Sword.

• Jiang Ning practiced the Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword and Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword with sharply increased experience gains.
• Jiang Ning broke through the Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword, comprehended Star Rotation sword intent, and gained a trait that deflected things around him.
• After two and a half days of practice, Jiang Ning broke through again and gained the Two Forms Fusion trait as his Demon-Subduing and Star-Rotation sword intents fused.
• Jiang Ning found that the Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword had become slow and costly to advance, but his sword attainment greatly increased his Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword proficiency.
• Jiang Ning began practicing the Grand Void Yin-Yang Sword and experienced deeper insights as its visions of day and night appeared around him.

Jiang Ning broke through the Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword and gained a purple-grade Clear Sword Heart, greatly improving his sword talent. After experimenting with an ordinary sword technique, he decided to abandon it and prepare for his eighth blood renewal, which would replenish his source energy.

• Jiang Ning completed the Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword’s fifth limit-breaking and spent 5,000 source energy points to reach the sixth, upgrading Clear Sword Heart to Light Purple.
• Jiang Ning found that his improved sword talent increased his experience gains for both the Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword and the Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword, but further breakthroughs required more source energy than he could afford.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Wind-Sweeping Sword Technique through four limit-breakings and gained the Sword Aptitude trait, along with Swift Sword and Light as the Wind.
• Jiang Ning tested the new trait on the Seven-Star Demon-Subduing Sword and found that Sword Aptitude offered only a slight improvement to his already exceptional talent.
• Jiang Ning gave up on further developing the Wind-Sweeping Sword Technique and decided to undergo his eighth blood renewal because his source energy was running low.

Jiang Ning began his eighth blood replacement at Glazed Lake, using his inner core to gather spiritual essence and discovering that it nourished his immortal root. As the transformation left him close to death, his true spirit returned and Divine Radiance helped restore him; he ended the chapter ravenous, replenishing himself with treasures as his body rapidly grew stronger.

• Jiang Ning sent Linglong into Glazed Lake to guard him while he prepared for his eighth blood replacement.
• Jiang Ning refined heavenly treasures into a reserve of pure energy, then drew spiritual essence into his golden inner core.
• Jiang Ning discovered that spiritual essence nourished his immortal root, which grew from two inches and three tenths to three inches and one tenth.
• Jiang Ning began replacing his blood, and his vitality collapsed as a blood dragon formed above him.
• Jiang Ning's true spirit returned, his inner core released Divine Radiance, and the energy he had stored helped regenerate his blood and restore his body.
• Jiang Ning devoured more spiritual essence and treasures to satisfy his body's intense hunger as his qi, blood, and physique rapidly strengthened.

After completing his eighth blood exchange, Jiang Ning shared Emperor's Flowing Essence with Linglong and Old Tortoise and considered what he needed to reach the ninth exchange and the second-grade Divine Intent realm. He decided to visit Myriad Splendor Tower in Guangning City the next day, then relaxed with Linglong as they watched the sunset.

• Jiang Ning completed his eighth blood exchange and discovered that a drop of his pale golden blood made grass grow rapidly.
• Jiang Ning fed Linglong several drops of blood, then invited Zhong Ling and Linglong to drink Emperor's Flowing Essence and sent a cup to Old Tortoise.
• Zhong Ling drank too much, fell asleep, and Jiang Ning carried her to her room before considering his path to the ninth blood exchange and second-grade Divine Intent realm.
• Jiang Ning decided to travel to Guangning City to check on the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Scroll and rested beside the lake with Linglong.
• Linglong asked whether humans and demons could have children, and Jiang Ning told her not to entertain such nonsense.

Jiang Ning broke Wind-Thunder Steps through its ninth limit, gained the spatial divine ability Shrinking Earth to Inches, and traveled at supersonic speed to Guangning City. At Myriad Splendor Tower, Xia Wanqin learned that Jiang Ning had reached top-tier grandmaster strength and that the tower had gathered the six Twenty-Four Solar Terms Fragments he requested.

• Jiang Ning practiced his two sword arts, then gave Xie Xiaoj iu Sword Nine and three drops of his blood to help her grow stronger.
• Jiang Ning used the Great Five-Element Water Escape to travel along the Nu River and found that Wind-Thunder Steps had reached its experience limit.
• Jiang Ning spent fifty thousand Source Energy points to break Wind-Thunder Steps through its ninth limit, improving Shrinking Earth to Inches.
• Jiang Ning tested the spatial ability by taking steps of a hundred zhang, then recovered in a lake amid signs of a severe drought.
• Jiang Ning flew to Guangning City at supersonic speed and entered the city.
• Xia Wanqin learned that Jiang Ning had become a top-tier grandmaster and that Myriad Splendor Tower had collected the six Twenty-Four Solar Terms Fragments he needed.

Xia Wanqin tried to recruit Jiang Ning into Mystic Yellow Grotto-Heaven by offering him longevity, cultivation resources, and the right to marry any noblewoman he chose. When Jiang Ning jokingly chose her, she agreed, leaving him scrambling to take back the suggestion.

• Shen Congyun told Jiang Ning that he ranked fourth on the Hidden Dragon Sky Ranking and explained that young experts who reached the second-grade great grandmaster realm transcended it.
• Xia Wanqin met Jiang Ning and asked Shen Congyun to leave so she could speak with him privately about his request concerning the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Fragments.
• Xia Wanqin revealed that she belonged to Mystic Yellow Grotto-Heaven and urged Jiang Ning to join the Immortal Dao, describing its resources and the long lives available to cultivators who remained in a grotto-heaven.
• Xia Wanqin offered Jiang Ning his choice of noblewoman in Mystic Yellow Grotto-Heaven as a condition of joining, and Jiang Ning asked if he could choose her.
• Xia Wanqin agreed, saying she would seek her father's consent and marry Jiang Ning, while he insisted he had only been joking.

Jiang Ning rejected Xia Wanqin’s offer to join the Mysterious Yellow Grotto-Heaven Greater World and advanced his Springtime Canon by mastering the Clear and Bright and Grain Rain intents. After a sudden enlightenment caused the courtyard plants to grow rapidly, he discovered Shen Wenyuan waiting outside and greeted the marquis.

• Jiang Ning declined Xia Wanqin’s invitation, then left Myriad Splendor Tower and checked into Pinewind Villa.
• Jiang Ning mastered the Clear and Bright and Grain Rain intents, making the Springtime Canon complete and upgradeable.
• Jiang Ning practiced the Springtime Canon until he entered sudden enlightenment, advanced it to mastery, and caused the courtyard’s grass and trees to grow wildly.
• Shen Wenyuan arrived at Pinewind Villa to visit Jiang Ning, sensed the profound intent from outside the courtyard, and waited rather than interrupting him.
• Jiang Ning noticed Shen Wenyuan outside, opened the courtyard gate, and greeted the marquis.

Jiang Ning showed Shen Wenyuan his Fire Eye and asked him to explain the second-rank Spirit Intent Realm. After Shen Wenyuan demonstrated his spiritual pressure, Jiang Ning barely felt its effects, leaving Shen Wenyuan to admit he had underestimated him.

• Shen Wenyuan visited Jiang Ning and recognized that Jiang Ning's recent enlightenment had infused the courtyard with spring vitality.
• Jiang Ning revealed his Fire Eye, explaining how he had seen the white horned dragon at Luo Water Lake and the Human Emperor Sword inside it; Shen Wenyuan's doubts about the demon's appearance and the attack on him were resolved.
• Shen Wenyuan shared his Twenty-Four Solar Terms Fragments and explained that second-rank Grandmasters tempered their souls with Martial Dao true intent.
• Shen Wenyuan drew Jiang Ning into an illusory world formed by his Summer's Thunderclap intent, but Jiang Ning broke free with his saber intent.
• Shen Wenyuan explained that spiritual strength was the key difference between second-rank Grandmasters and third-rank Masters, then let Jiang Ning experience his spiritual pressure.
• Jiang Ning said Shen Wenyuan's spiritual pressure had only made the world silent, and Shen Wenyuan admitted that he had underestimated him.

Jiang Ning learned from Shen Wenyuan what First Rank, the Pinnacle, and the Strongest meant, and realized he had fulfilled the conditions to become the Strongest once he reached First Rank. After Shen Wenyuan departed, Jiang Ning advanced his Springtime Canon by mastering vitality and began comprehending the six summer solar-term domains.

• Jiang Ning asked Shen Wenyuan about First Rank, the Pinnacle, and the Strongest, and learned that the Strongest was a title for those who completed the First-Rank path.
• Jiang Ning realized he had already fulfilled every condition Shen Wenyuan described and would qualify as the Strongest upon entering First Rank.
• Shen Wenyuan left Jiang Ning several Twenty-Four Solar Terms Fragments and departed without explaining his suspicions about True Spirit Ninefold Metamorphosis.
• Jiang Ning used the six spring solar-term conceptions to make plants flourish and wither, then restored them by returning the vitality stored in his saber.
• Jiang Ning meditated beneath a tree and increased his Springtime Canon experience from 438 to 602 in just over an hour.
• Jiang Ning completed his collection of summer solar-term fragments, studied Start of Summer, Grain Fullness, Grain in Ear, and Summer Solstice, and practiced their domains with his saber.

Jiang Ning perfected the Summer Canon and unleashed the Sun Overhead Conception, demonstrating its devastating power in the mountains. After Ye Zhengqi learned what the technique was, an approaching expert drew their attention, leaving Jiang Ning facing an unknown visitor.

• Jiang Ning completed the six seasonal conceptions and mastered the Summer Canon, discovering that his Summer Conception was Sun Overhead.
• Jiang Ning tested Sun Overhead in the mountain forest, scorching the ground and reducing the surrounding vegetation to ashes.
• Ye Zhengqi followed Jiang Ning and witnessed the eruption, while Shen Wenyuan chose not to investigate and Nan Zhiwei flew toward the disturbance.
• Jiang Ning considered how the Summer Canon strengthened his combat power and how he needed to balance its cultivation with his other techniques.
• Ye Zhengqi met Jiang Ning, asked about the technique, and learned that it came from the Twenty-Four Solar Terms; then both noticed someone approaching from the west.

Jiang Ning accepted Nan Zhiwei’s challenge and demonstrated the defensive power of his Two Forms Hard-Soft Sword. He left Nan Zhiwei defeated and Ye Zhengqi astonished at how far Jiang Ning had surpassed him.

• Nan Zhiwei arrived at the scorched forest, recognized Jiang Ning as the source of the disturbance, and asked him to spar in exchange for a favor.
• Jiang Ning accepted, borrowed a sword from Ye Zhengqi, and revealed a profound sword intent despite having no suitable sword of his own.
• Nan Zhiwei unleashed a storm of sword attacks, but Jiang Ning stood his ground and absorbed and neutralized them with his defensive sword technique.
• Nan Zhiwei sensed the danger in Jiang Ning’s gathering sphere of energy and stopped attacking, asking Jiang Ning to make his move.
• Jiang Ning released the accumulated energy in a sword strike that sent Nan Zhiwei crashing through trees, leaving Ye Zhengqi stunned by Jiang Ning’s strength.

Jiang Ning demonstrated the Sun Suspended in the Sky Conception to Nan Zhiwei, defeated him, and revealed power that placed him among Invincible Grandmasters. Afterward, Jiang Ning reflected on the origins and potential of his conception, while Ye Zhengqi realized Jiang Ning might soon be promoted.

• Nan Zhiwei asked Jiang Ning to show him the great-sun move, and Jiang Ning unleashed the Sun Suspended in the Sky Conception in their spar.
• Jiang Ning's attack charred Nan Zhiwei, who admitted defeat and said Jiang Ning had held back before healing with a pill.
• Ye Zhengqi recognized Jiang Ning's strength as that of an Invincible Grandmaster and left for Guangning City.
• Jiang Ning considered how his Pure Yang Body and the Yang-Character Scripture might have shaped the conception's extraordinary power.
• After seeing Jiang Ning summon another golden great sun, Ye Zhengqi worried that Jiang Ning would be promoted beyond his current post.

After Jiang Ning defeated Nan Zhiwei, Shen Wenyuan recognized him as a potential invincible grandmaster and welcomed the boost to Guangning Prefecture’s strength. The next morning, Xia Wanqin offered Jiang Ning Nine-Heavens Cloud Dew and renewed her invitation for him to join the Xia Family and marry her, leaving him surprised by her acceptance of his other relationships.

• Ye Zhengqi told Shen Wenyuan that Jiang Ning had defeated Nan Zhiwei with the Sun Suspended in the Sky Conception, and Shen Wenyuan judged Jiang Ning to be an invincible grandmaster.
• Jiang Ning advanced his Summer Canon through a day of practice, then returned to Pinewind Villa and slept until morning.
• Jiang Ning met Xia Wanqin at a restaurant, where she gave him Nine-Heavens Cloud Dew and explained how Grotto-Heaven worlds let cultivators comprehend the Dao and pursue higher realms.
• Jiang Ning asked Xia Wanqin whether cultivators could attain Yang God without joining a Grotto-Heaven, and she said it was extremely difficult.
• Xia Wanqin praised Jiang Ning for defeating Nan Zhiwei and again invited him to join the Xia Family and marry her.
• Jiang Ning questioned whether Xia Wanqin minded his other women, and she said he could marry them too as long as they respected her place.

Xia Wanqin tried to recruit Jiang Ning into the Primordial Yellow Grotto-Heaven and urged him to consider marrying her, while Jiang Ning advanced his Summer Canon to Major Accomplishment. Xia Xuanyan, Xia Wanqin’s father and a Primordial Spirit expert, visited Jiang Ning to assess him, leaving the two men about to speak privately.

• Xia Wanqin told Jiang Ning that the world’s environment was recovering under the influence of the Heavenly Dao and urged him to join the Primordial Yellow Grotto-Heaven, leaving him Nine-Heavens Cloud Dew as she departed.
• Jiang Ning trained beneath the sun and advanced his Summer Canon from Minor Accomplishment to Major Accomplishment.
• Xia Wanqin showed her father, Xia Xuanyan, intelligence about Jiang Ning and said she wanted to marry him; Xia Xuanyan agreed to meet him and judge him himself.
• Jiang Ning sensed an ultimate expert approaching his courtyard and recognized Xia Xuanyan’s Shrinking Earth to Inches technique when the man appeared before him.
• Xia Xuanyan introduced himself as the Xia Family patriarch, and Jiang Ning recognized him as a Primordial Spirit expert who had formed his own small world.
• Jiang Ning welcomed Xia Xuanyan and Xia Wanqin into his courtyard and served wine mixed with Emperor's Flowing Essence.