Chapter Summaries

Li Changfeng fought the Bull-Horned Chieftain and the other chieftains, seriously injuring several despite their coordinated attacks. The two sword-wielding chieftains then unleashed a sudden surge of power, forcing Li Changfeng to face a more desperate assault.

• Li Changfeng shattered the Bull-Horned Chieftain's phantom and struck him into the ground with a vitality-destroying palm force.
• Li Changfeng countered the Broken-Horn Chieftain's blade attacks with the Golden Summit Buddha Sword, wounding him with lightning sword seals.
• The two Ratfiend Leaders attacked Li Changfeng from all sides, but he drove them back with Savage Elephant Tramples the Heavens and left them unable to rise.
• Two hidden sword-wielding chieftains ambushed Li Changfeng; he caught their blades, endured minor wounds, and wounded them with Thousand Hands Vajra Palm.
• The two sword-wielding chieftains, unwilling to die again, gathered their strength for a desperate attack as Li Changfeng wondered why they had suddenly become berserk.

Li Changfeng fought the chieftains after they unleashed their berserk transformations and attacked him together. He overwhelmed the Bull-Horned Chieftain with relentless kicks and shattered the Broken-Horn Chieftain’s demonic blade with a Buddhist sword, leaving the latter badly injured.

• The seven chieftains transformed and charged Li Changfeng, while the Bull-Horned Chieftain’s injuries healed and his strength increased.
• Li Changfeng evaded the Bull-Horned Chieftain’s attack and battered him with the Dominating Leg Technique, forcing him to rely on life-consuming regeneration.
• The Ratfiend Leader attacked with venomous fur spikes, but Li Changfeng’s Indestructible Divine Skill deflected them, and he hurled spikes back at the Ratfiend Leader.
• The Broken-Horn Chieftain unleashed a demonic blade, and Li Changfeng countered with the third move of the Bodhidharma Divine Sword.
• Li Changfeng’s golden thunderbolt greatsword destroyed the demonic phantom, and the Broken-Horn Chieftain spat black blood in shock.

Li Changfeng defeated the seven leaders with his self-created Thousand Leaf Sunset Hand and learned that he had passed the Heaven-grade trial. The elderly man offered to guide him by pointing out flaws in his strongest move, and Li Changfeng began by attacking with Mountain-Splitting Strike.

• Li Changfeng clashed with the male and female leaders’ combined sword radiance using Flame Saber, and both sides were forced back.
• Li Changfeng unleashed Thousand Leaf Sunset Hand and reduced the seven leaders to ashes.
• After a white light transported him back to the lake, Li Changfeng learned from the elderly man that he had passed the Heaven-grade trial and would receive personal guidance.
• The elderly man recognized Li Changfeng’s perfected Sword Intent and asked to see his sword technique.
• Li Changfeng attacked the elderly man with Mountain-Splitting Strike, sending a hundred-zhang black sword qi toward him.

Li Changfeng tested the five stances of Heavy Sword, No Edge against a sixty-year-old man, whose overwhelming skill absorbed or deflected every attack. As Li Changfeng learned from the old man's defenses and built his Sword Intent, he unleashed his final stance, Mountain Shattering, Earth Rending, and sent searing magma toward him.

• The sixty-year-old man deflected Li Changfeng's opening strike and recognized the strength and subtlety of his swordsmanship.
• Li Changfeng unleashed Sweeping a Thousand Armies, but the old man erased its sword-qi storm with a single slap.
• Li Changfeng attacked with Thunderous Might for hundreds of exchanges while secretly accumulating Sword Intent, but the old man blocked every blow.
• Li Changfeng used Great Skill is No Skill as the old man stood on the lake and countered his blazing sword qi without retreating.
• Over the next hour, Li Changfeng refined his swordsmanship by pressing his attacks against the old man's defenses and brought his Sword Intent to its peak.
• Li Changfeng unleashed Mountain Shattering, Earth Rending, driving the Yama Sword into the ground and sending searing magma toward the old man.

Li Changfeng forced the elderly man back with a magma sword strike, then received the advice “Hide the Sword Within the Edge” for advancing his Sword Intent. After a month of contemplation, he understood the principle and learned to gather his Edgeless Sword Intent inside the sheathed Yama Sword.

• Li Changfeng's all-out sword strike forced the elderly man back a step, and the elderly man praised his swordsmanship.
• The elderly man told Li Changfeng to “Hide the Sword Within the Edge” and disappeared into the lake, leaving him to ponder the advice.
• After a month without understanding, Li Changfeng vented his frustration with a powerful strike and then realized that he needed to gather sword intent within the sheathed blade.
• The elderly man watched from the lake's bottom and reflected that Li Changfeng had grasped the principle sooner than expected, while another prodigy awaited the final trial.
• Li Changfeng managed to gather his Edgeless Sword Intent inside the Yama Sword without letting it disperse, and the elderly man appeared to praise his comprehension.

Li Changfeng trained to make his Sword Intent strengthen across successive strikes and finally entered the realm of Sword Intent. He could maintain only one-third of his intent, but he planned to keep practicing before the final trial in two months.

• Li Changfeng asked the gray-haired elder how to make his accumulated Sword Intent effective beyond a single strike, and the elder told him to keep gathering momentum rather than release it all at once.
• Li Changfeng practiced at the lake but initially managed only one powerful strike, while gradually cutting the time needed to gather his Sword Intent in half.
• After realizing intent was a commanding presence he could maintain, Li Changfeng successfully used Sword Intent in several consecutive strikes and kept the lake split for three breaths.
• Li Changfeng continued training until he could unleash four increasingly powerful strikes and hold the lake apart for a quarter of an hour.
• Li Changfeng concluded that he had entered the realm of Sword Intent, though he could maintain only one-third of his intent, and the gray-haired elder had told him the final trial would come in two months.

Li Changfeng trained his Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms under the elderly man's guidance, hoping to master the fourth stance but learning instead to improve his earlier techniques in actual combat. After the elderly man broke through his first and second stances, Li Changfeng was left injured and submerged in the lake.

• Li Changfeng asked the elderly man to teach him the fourth stance, but the elderly man told him to practice the earlier stances and discover the fourth stance's palm intent within them.
• Li Changfeng attacked with the first stance, Hidden Dragon, Do Not Use, and the elderly man shattered its force, causing Li Changfeng to suffer a backlash and a cut to his face.
• Li Changfeng countered the elderly man's next palm strike with the Dominating Leg Technique, but the exchange left him bleeding and his feet numb.
• The elderly man pointed out that Li Changfeng's first stance was powerful but overly forceful, and Li Changfeng realized it could backfire against a stronger opponent.
• Li Changfeng used the second stance, Flying Dragon in the Sky, but the elderly man shattered its flying dragon with a palm imprint and sent Li Changfeng crashing into the lake.

Li Changfeng tested the first three stances of the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms against the elder and studied their different uses and risks. After an hour of reflection, he returned to combat and used Flying Dragon in the Sky to redirect the backlash from Hidden Dragon, Do Not Use before launching an even stronger aerial strike at the elder.

• Li Changfeng used Flying Dragon in the Sky to dissipate the force of the elder's attack, then unleashed Soaring Dragon Ascends and was injured in their collision.
• Li Changfeng considered how the first three stances worked, while the elder waited and revealed that he had deliberately exposed flaws to help Li Changfeng understand them.
• After an hour, Li Changfeng told the elder that true combat was necessary and asked to fight again.
• Li Changfeng launched Hidden Dragon, Do Not Use, and, when the elder's counterattack forced him back, used Flying Dragon in the Sky to redirect the backlash and rise into the air.
• Li Changfeng sent a powerful flying-dragon palm strike at the elder, who praised the move and attacked it with both palms.

Li Changfeng struggled to understand the hidden intent of the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms’ third stance, Soaring Dragon Ascends, until he realized the fourth stance, Repentance of the Soaring Dragon, required him to hold back strength. After recovering, he demonstrated his insight by unleashing three increasingly powerful dragon-shaped palm strikes at the elderly man.

• Li Changfeng battled the elderly man with Soaring Dragon Ascends, was severely injured, and agreed to return after recovering.
• For more than half a month, Li Changfeng repeatedly fought the elderly man but failed to uncover the stance’s mystery, until only seven days remained in his trial.
• Li Changfeng reasoned that repentance meant leaving himself room rather than using all his strength, and realized this was the stance’s hidden palm intent.
• Three days later, Li Changfeng attacked the elderly man with Soaring Dragon Ascends, then used his reserved strength to unleash Repentance of the Soaring Dragon.
• Li Changfeng struck three times in succession, sending three increasingly powerful True Qi dragons charging toward the elderly man.

Li Changfeng completed his training in the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms and arrived at the gathering place for the third trial, where he reunited with Princess Minmin and met Zhang Xuandao. The other Heaven-Grade trial survivors and the battered alliance members gathered nearby as the next trial approached.

• Li Changfeng used Repentance of the Soaring Dragon to force the elderly man back, and the elder praised his palm technique before sending him to the third trial.
• Li Changfeng appeared on an abandoned drill ground, where Princess Minmin, Tang Er-Yi, Li Wuyai, and other Heaven-Grade trial survivors were waiting.
• Zuo Kangcheng, Zhou Zhiruo, Zuo Bufan, Tie Rushan, and the alliance leaders emerged from the lower-grade trials badly wounded, while many participants and leaders had died in the Heaven-Grade trial.
• Qinghua Yue arrived beneath the drill ground and regretted not attempting the Heaven-Grade trial; Zhou Zhiruo and the others celebrated Li Changfeng's success, while Zuo Bufan glared at him resentfully.
• Princess Minmin welcomed Li Changfeng and urged him not to disgrace Southern Emperor Province, and he promised not to disappoint her.
• Zhang Xuandao introduced himself as the first-ranked Human Rankings expert, and Li Changfeng thanked him for helping him untie the knot in his heart.

Li Changfeng joined the Heavenly-rank trial, where the contestants learned that the inherited cultivation technique would go to the winner of a life-and-death contest. Several rivalries flared, and Tang Er-Yi and Li Wuyai teamed up to attack Li Changfeng as the other contestants prepared to fight their own opponents.

• Li Changfeng greeted Zhang Xuandao and met Leng Xue, Ouyang Duha, and the Buddha Child, while Li Wuyai and Tang Er-Yi watched him with hostility.
• A golden figure announced that the trial had no rules, surrender meant withdrawal, and the winner would receive the ruin's inherited cultivation technique.
• Ouyang Duha proposed dealing with four contestants first, but Tang Er-Yi asked to fight Li Changfeng, and Li Wuyai persuaded Tang Er-Yi to join forces against him.
• Princess Minmin challenged Leng Xue, while the Buddha Child called on Zhang Xuandao to fight; Zhang Xuandao reluctantly agreed.
• Tang Er-Yi unleashed his Gale Form hidden-weapon attack on Li Changfeng, and Li Wuyai followed with Yang Flame Skyfall.

Li Changfeng fought off Tang Er-Yi and Li Wuyai’s combined attacks, surviving their flaming hurricane with his Indestructible Divine Skill. He emerged from the smoke with his injuries healing and faced the two opponents again, while Ouyang Duha continued battling elsewhere.

• Li Changfeng used Coiling Dragon Whirl to sweep Tang Er-Yi’s flying needles aside, but Li Wuyai struck him with a blazing palm that left his hand burning.
• Tang Er-Yi attacked with Hurricane Stance as Li Wuyai unleashed Yang Flame Triple Strike, combining their attacks into a flaming hurricane of hidden needles.
• Li Changfeng endured the assault with the second layer of the Indestructible Divine Skill, and the palm intent of regret replenished his Adamantine Body Force when his defense began to fail.
• After the hurricane dissipated, Li Changfeng emerged in tattered clothes as his burned injuries healed, leaving Tang Er-Yi and Li Wuyai stunned.
• Ouyang Duha mocked Li Changfeng while continuing to fight two other opponents, and Li Changfeng challenged Tang Er-Yi and Li Wuyai to discover his condition for themselves.

Li Changfeng clashed with Li Wuyai and Tang Er-Yi, overpowering their attacks and destroying Tang Er-Yi’s hidden weapon case. He then charged at both men with two enormous flame sabers.

• Li Wuyai attacked Li Changfeng head-on, but Li Changfeng shattered his palm strike and nearly struck a fatal blow.
• Tang Er-Yi ambushed Li Changfeng with a storm of flying needles, forcing him to retreat while Li Wuyai escaped the immediate attack.
• Li Changfeng used Shaolin Dragon Grasp to scatter the needles and hurl them at the two men, but Tang Er-Yi pulled them back into his hidden weapon case.
• Li Changfeng used Bodhidharma Divine Sword to smash Tang Er-Yi’s hidden weapon case and destroy its mechanisms.
• Li Changfeng charged at Li Wuyai and Tang Er-Yi with two hundred-zhang flame sabers.

Li Changfeng overwhelmed Li Wuyai and Tang Er-Yi with repeated Flame Saber attacks, but Tang Er-Yi lured him into a trap of mechanical puppets. Li Changfeng destroyed the puppets, and Li Wuyai unleashed his palm-intent trump card as the fight continued.

• Li Changfeng repeatedly attacked Li Wuyai and Tang Er-Yi with Flame Sabers, wounding them until they were blasted to the ground.
• Li Wuyai and Tang Er-Yi agreed that Li Wuyai would hold Li Changfeng back while Tang Er-Yi’s trap waited for an opening.
• Li Wuyai met Li Changfeng’s Flame Sabers with Fierce Flame Engulfs the Body, burning his hands while stopping the attack.
• Tang Er-Yi’s five mechanical puppets trapped Li Changfeng, but Li Changfeng used Savage Elephant Tramples the Heavens to smash them apart.
• Li Wuyai unleashed Yang Fire Sky Scorcher with palm intent, and Li Changfeng remarked that his palm intent was too weak.

Li Changfeng overpowered Tang Er-Yi and Wu Ya’s combined attack, then killed Tang Er-Yi despite Tang Shi-Qi’s furious protest. Elsewhere, Ouyang Duha forced his two opponents to reveal their strength and knocked them back with his First Revolution of the Nine Revolution Toad Skill.

• Tang Er-Yi unleashed Rain of Flowers with technical intent, while Wu Ya joined his attack with palm intent, prompting Zhou Zhiruo to fear for Li Changfeng.
• Li Changfeng met their fused assault with Hundred Leaves Sky-Burning Hand and overwhelmed both men in a blazing collision.
• Li Changfeng approached the badly burned Tang Er-Yi and killed him with a palm strike, while Tang Shi-Qi vowed revenge from below.
• Ouyang Duha realized his opponents had been holding back and used the First Revolution of the Nine Revolution Toad Skill to force them to fight seriously.
• The bandaged man and the masked man struck Ouyang Duha with their respective attacks, but he repelled them and made them stagger back wounded.

The bandaged man and the masked man attacked Ouyang Duha, but his powerful defensive aura and poisonous True Qi kept them at bay. After the bandaged man interrupted Ouyang Duha's attempt to finish off the poisoned masked man, the two fighters agreed to attack him together.

• The bandaged man used the Evil-warding Swordplay to strike Ouyang Duha, but Ouyang Duha's Nine Revolution Toad Skill shield stopped his sword and sent him flying.
• The masked man ambushed Ouyang Duha from behind and cut his arm before evading Ouyang Duha's counterattack.
• Ouyang Duha attacked the masked man with poisonous palms, then poisoned him when he dodged the blow.
• As Ouyang Duha moved to kill the poisoned masked man, the bandaged man attacked from above and forced him to defend with his iron staff.
• The masked man expelled the poison, and he and the bandaged man agreed to attack Ouyang Duha from opposite sides.

Li Changfeng faced Li Wuyai as a masked man intervened to settle a blood feud and exposed Li Wuyai as the supposedly dead Qu Qingsheng. After Qu Qingsheng died, an attacker emerged from the spreading black mist and nearly killed Li Changfeng.

• Ouyang Duha and the masked man were startled by the distant clash between Li Changfeng, Tang Er-Yi, and Li Wuyai, and the masked man spread black mist as they headed toward the fight.
• Li Changfeng sealed Li Wuyai's mute acupoint, but the masked man stabbed Li Wuyai's dantian and asked to kill him for the harm he had suffered.
• The masked man removed his bandages and revealed a scarred face, and Li Changfeng agreed to let him kill Li Wuyai.
• The masked man tore away Li Wuyai's face and exposed Qu Qingsheng, shocking Li Changfeng and the Free and Unfettered Sect.
• Qu Qingsheng broke his sealed acupoints and tried to surrender, but the masked man cut his throat and killed him.
• A figure attacked Li Changfeng from the black mist, and Li Changfeng caught the dagger beneath his chin with Adamantine Body Force, though it still sliced his neck.

Li Changfeng survived Ghost Shadow’s ambush and protected himself with the Indestructible Vajra Body, while Ghost Shadow tried to recruit Li Wuyai to help kill him. After Li Wuyai refused, Ghost Shadow attacked Li Changfeng with regenerating resentful souls, and Ouyang Duha headed toward the battle after noticing the mist.

• Ghost Shadow nearly killed Li Changfeng with a hidden strike, but Li Wuyai’s warning let Li Changfeng dodge and identify his attacker.
• Li Changfeng invoked the Indestructible Vajra Body to guard against Ghost Shadow’s attacks in the mist.
• Ghost Shadow asked Li Wuyai to help break Li Changfeng’s defense, but Li Wuyai refused because he no longer wanted to continue their feud.
• Ghost Shadow sent waves of resentful souls against Li Changfeng, who destroyed them with Buddhist light before they reformed and attacked again.
• Ouyang Duha saw the ghostly mist gather near Li Changfeng and vowed to show the others what he could do.

Ouyang Duha poisoned the Ghost Mist and attacked Ghost Shadow after the mist dispersed. Ghost Shadow survived the ambush but was badly injured, while Li Changfeng recognized his chance to kill him.

• Ouyang Duha added poison to the Ghost Mist as Li Changfeng fought Ghost Shadow and Li Wuyai.
• Li Wuyai and Ghost Shadow were poisoned, while Li Changfeng's Adamantine Body Force expelled the poison and he defeated the remaining ghosts.
• Ouyang Duha made the Ghost Mist even more toxic, forcing Ghost Shadow to disperse it after half an hour.
• Ouyang Duha ambushed Ghost Shadow as the mist cleared and sent him flying with a powerful palm strike.
• Ghost Shadow healed enough to stand and confronted Ouyang Duha, while Li Changfeng decided to use the opening to kill him.

Li Changfeng and Ouyang Duha fought to a standstill, then agreed to race to kill Ghost Shadow and Li Wuyai. As Li Changfeng confronted Li Wuyai, Li Wuyai explained that he had given up his vengeance and wanted to make amends, though he still wished to live.

• Li Changfeng tried to attack Ghost Shadow, but Ouyang Duha stopped him and insisted that Ghost Shadow could only die by his hand.
• Ouyang Duha and Li Changfeng clashed with their palm techniques and proved evenly matched.
• Ouyang Duha agreed to let Li Changfeng fight Li Wuyai, and the two men challenged each other to see who could kill his opponent first.
• Ghost Shadow accepted that he was outmatched but vowed to face Ouyang Duha rather than run away.
• Li Changfeng confronted Li Wuyai, who said an eminent monk had taught him about karma and that he wanted to make amends for his past deeds.