Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yang asked Zhou Yanwei how to obtain a sturdy Sword Weapon, and Zhou Yanwei outlined several options before recommending a degraded Artifact Embryo from a Cave-Dwelling Legacy. Jiang Yang realized Fang Xu’s recent expedition to a Sword Pool might provide one and decided to ask him about it.

• Zhou Yanwei told Jiang Yang that he could commission a weapon from Fireworker Disciples on Craft Peak or look for one at the Exchange Meeting in Chuanwu Market Ward.
• Zhou Yanwei warned Jiang Yang that Ghost Market merchants often sold fakes, and Jiang Yang hid that he had already bought something there.
• Zhou Yanwei explained that Artifact Embryos were degraded Mystic or Spirit Artifacts whose materials remained durable despite losing their special properties.
• Jiang Yang recalled the heavy sword fragment sold by Song Qi and recognized that it might be an Artifact Embryo.
• Zhou Yanwei suggested that Jiang Yang visit Fang Xu, who had recently returned from exploring a Cave-Dwelling Legacy containing a Sword Pool.
• Jiang Yang decided to approach Fang Xu for a Sword Weapon and joked that he hoped Fang Xu would offer a reasonable price.

Jiang Yang thanked Zhou Yanwei for arranging a weapons purchase, then learned about a Pure Etiquette Peak decree seeking two spiritual substances. Back in his cave abode, he studied a book about Zheng Kingdom and learned which great powers controlled the realm.

• Jiang Yang took leave of Zhou Yanwei, who promised to contact Fang Xu so Jiang Yang could visit him the next day.
• On Morning Rain Peak, Jiang Yang learned that Pure Etiquette Peak was offering rewards for Crimson Vermilion Grease and Water-Cutting Mystic Amber.
• A disciple explained where the two qi refining level one spiritual substances could be found and speculated that they would help disciples prepare for Foundation Establishment.
• Jiang Yang returned to his cave abode and read Three Hundred Years of Zheng Kingdom Customs to learn about the surrounding cultivation world.
• Jiang Yang learned that the Yi Sword Gate, the Threefold Way, and Rain Xiang Mountain shared power across Zheng Kingdom, with Rain Xiang Mountain controlling three prefectures.

Jiang Yang practiced his spells and movement technique before visiting Fang Xu to ask about swords. Fang Xu told him about a recent cave-abode expedition that had gone smoothly but left him frustrated by a near miss.

• Jiang Yang read about the Zheng Kingdom's powers, then cultivated overnight with an Essence-Nourishing Pill.
• Jiang Yang practiced his Clear-Wave Mystic Shield and movement technique until his magical power fell to the reserve limit he had set.
• Jiang Yang found Fang Xu's Lone Chant Residence beneath a Water-Cloud Fir and greeted him there.
• Fang Xu said Zhou Yanwei had told him why Jiang Yang had come and regretted that Jiang Yang had not joined him on an earlier trip, which could have earned him swords.
• Fang Xu explained that his cave-abode expedition had gone smoothly, but a near miss left him bitter despite what he had gained.

Fang Xu told Jiang Yang how his group’s failed array-breaking had ruined the Spirit Swords in an ancient Sword-Washing Pool. Jiang Yang examined the salvaged weapons and chose an unmarked, heavily corroded sword, then asked Fang Xu its price.

• Fang Xu explained that his group had found an ancient Sword-Washing Pool, but breaking its array by brute force dispersed its last trace of Spirit Vigor and ruined the swords within.
• Jiang Yang tried to console Fang Xu, who accepted that the swords could now only be sold as Spirit Material for Artifact Embryos.
• Fang Xu showed Jiang Yang the corroded swords and damaged jade slips recovered from the pool.
• Jiang Yang inspected the swords, learned that the Foundation Establishment Mystic Artifact Azure Torch was too expensive for him, and chose an unnamed sword of unknown Spirit Material.
• Jiang Yang asked Fang Xu how much he wanted for the unnamed sword.

Jiang Yang bought an unusually sturdy sword from Fang Xu and examined the damaged Jade Slips Fang Xu had collected. He discovered a spell that might revive his dead Spirit Seed and asked to pay for the sword with Dao Merit.

• Jiang Yang bought the nameless sword from Fang Xu for a hundred and fifty spirit stones.
• Fang Xu let Jiang Yang browse and copy the damaged Jade Slips without charge.
• Jiang Yang found incomplete records of the Thunderbolt Wind Sky Windwood Lineage but no trace of its Sword Canon.
• Jiang Yang discovered the Seasonal Renewal Spirit-Nurturing Guiding Incantation, which could restore a damaged Spirit Plant or Withered Seed.
• Jiang Yang asked Fang Xu whether he could make up the sword's price with Dao Merit because he lacked enough Spirit Stones.

Jiang Yang paid Fang Xu for the Seasonal Renewal Spirit-Nurturing Incantation, then studied and practiced the Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art. After someone laughed at his practice, he demanded to know who was there, and the unseen person gave the name Bai Tang.

• Jiang Yang transferred Fang Xu twenty Dao Merit and copied the Seasonal Renewal Spirit-Nurturing Incantation onto a Jade Slip for him.
• After returning to his cave abode, Jiang Yang studied the Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art and realized its lethal moves depended on Sword Qi.
• Jiang Yang practiced the sword art in a clearing, sending light beyond the blade and slicing through fallen leaves and pine needles.
• Jiang Yang heard a sudden snicker, raised his sword, and called for the hidden person to reveal themself.
• The unseen person answered that their name was Bai Tang.

Jiang Yang discovered that the Spirit Sword Embryo contained a sword spirit named Bai Tang, who had lost most of her memories. Bai Tang acknowledged him as her master and showed him the power of true Sword Qi.

• Jiang Yang heard Bai Tang speak from the sword and cautiously asked who she was, fearing she might possess him.
• Bai Tang explained that she was a sword spirit with no ability to possess him, then asked where he had found her.
• Jiang Yang recounted the Cave-Dwelling Legacy and the sword’s discovery in the Sword-Washing Pool, while Bai Tang said her spirit was incomplete and her memories were mostly gone.
• Bai Tang said the sword had awakened to Jiang Yang’s soul and acknowledged him as its master.
• Bai Tang guided Jiang Yang through a sword strike that released Sword Qi and carved a deep gash into the mountainside.

Bai Tang taught Jiang Yang how to release sword qi through his Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art, then pushed him to keep practicing until he collapsed. After Jiang Yang managed one final streak of sword qi, Bai Tang manifested in human form, carried him into the Cave Abode, and disappeared with the spirit sword.

• Bai Tang corrected Jiang Yang's mistaken idea of sword qi and agreed to teach him the Sword Dao.
• Following Bai Tang's instructions, Jiang Yang used his Cave-Origin One-Qi Sword Art to release the sword qi technique One Qi Faces the Sun.
• Jiang Yang struggled to reproduce the strike, but kept practicing as Bai Tang urged him to focus and persist.
• After exhausting his magical power, Jiang Yang drew out enough spiritual qi for one final swing, released a tiny streak of sword qi, and collapsed.
• Bai Tang manifested in human form, carried the sleeping Jiang Yang into the Cave Abode, and vanished with the spirit sword.

Jiang Yang practiced swordsmanship with Bai Tang in the rain and witnessed a sect senior’s failed attempt to break through to the Purple Mansion. Bai Tang identified the heavenly phenomenon as the collapse of an immortal foundation of the Gui Water path, while Jiang Yang’s admiration for the realm deepened.

• Jiang Yang woke sore and exhausted, thanked Bai Tang for bringing him back to bed, and went outside to practice swordsmanship.
• Jiang Yang produced Sword Qi through the rain, and Bai Tang praised him cautiously and urged him to keep practicing.
• As the rain intensified, a surge of Spirit Vigor and blue-green radiance filled the sky, alarming the disciples on the mountain.
• Bai Tang told Jiang Yang that a senior had failed to break through to the Purple Mansion and perished.
• Bai Tang explained that the radiance came from a collapsed Gui Water immortal foundation, and Jiang Yang asked how she could read the phenomenon so easily.

After a failed breakthrough shook Rain Xiang Mountain, Jiang Yang found a valuable Spirit Treasure and learned how a cultivator’s death scattered treasures across the land. He returned to sword practice, where Bai Tang continued to train him sternly over the next five days.

• Bai Tang identified the deathly Celestial Phenomena as likely connected to the Gui Water Dao Lineage and advised Jiang Yang to search for scattered Spirit Treasures.
• Jiang Yang admitted he had invented a Purple Mansion master, and Bai Tang explained how cultivators’ bodies dispersed into Spirit Treasures after death.
• Jiang Yang found a Nether Spring Scale Stone, learned it was a Ren Water Dao Spirit Treasure, and stored it for its potential value.
• Bai Tang explained that Gui Water blended with cloud qi could transform into Ren Water, while treasures at the death’s core would remain Gui Water Foundation Establishment-grade treasures.
• Jiang Yang spent the next five days cultivating and practicing swordsmanship under Bai Tang’s demanding instruction, and prepared to take Elixir to replenish his magic power.

Shang Qingzheng and her senior sisters met with True Person Dawn Rain after she emerged from seclusion, receiving guidance on cultivation difficulties and fears about breakthrough. The chapter ended with Shang Qingzheng asking her master for a portion of clear-wave origin water.

• Shang Qingzheng climbed to the summit of Dawn Rain Peak to pay her respects to True Person Dawn Rain alongside Xie Lezhi and Lian Fei, while their eldest senior sister remained away at a critical juncture in her cultivation.
• Xie Lezhi asked about sluggish True Essence while practicing Ren Spring Empty Radiance Sunflower Light, and True Person Dawn Rain advised her to practice with a Xin Metal Spirit Treasure.
• Lian Fei confessed that she feared attempting a breakthrough after Martial Uncle Xu of Chong'e Peak died during his, and True Person Dawn Rain explained that Xu Mingyi had hidden injuries, an inadequate cultivation method, depleted lifespan, and no Purple Mansion Spirit Treasure.
• True Person Dawn Rain asked Shang Qingzheng about the Clear-Sound Bamboo Grove prepared for her, and Shang Qingzheng said she was waiting for its jade bamboo to mature so she could gather the essence needed for Foundation Establishment.
• Shang Qingzheng asked True Person Dawn Rain to grant her a portion of clear-wave origin water.

Jiang Yang trained to control his Sword Qi and received a letter and precious spiritual water from Shang Qingzheng. After admitting he liked her, the Peach Branch in his Sea of Consciousness bloomed and revealed a new innate talent, “Lush Peach and Plum.”

• Bai Tang advised Jiang Yang to conserve magic power and focus on controlling himself while using Sword Qi.
• A Spirit Crane delivered Shang Qingzheng’s letter and a jade bottle of clear-wave origin water to Jiang Yang.
• Jiang Yang read Shang Qingzheng’s affectionate letter and realized she had sent him a valuable Foundation Establishment-grade spiritual water.
• Bai Tang told Jiang Yang that Shang Qingzheng liked him and pressed him to admit his feelings.
• Jiang Yang declared that he liked Shang Qingzheng, causing the Peach Branch in his Sea of Consciousness to bloom and reveal the innate talent “Lush Peach and Plum.”

Jiang Yang realized his feelings for Shang Qingzheng and accepted her gift by sending her a carefully written reply. Shang Qingzheng treasured his letter and hoped they would share the moonlight together.

• The Peach Blossom in Jiang Yang’s Sea of Consciousness fully bloomed, and a new bud appeared on the Peach Branch.
• Bai Tang urged Jiang Yang to accept Shang Qingzheng’s spirit water and respond honestly to her affection.
• Jiang Yang wrote and sent Shang Qingzheng a letter accepting her gift and wishing that they might share the moon’s beauty across a thousand miles.
• Shang Qingzheng read the letter, pressed it to her heart, and wondered whether Jiang Yang would share the moonlight with her.

Shang Qingzheng sensed a breakthrough and entered secluded cultivation, while Jiang Yang studied a spell for reviving a Spirit Seed. Bai Tang then emerged from his sword, seized the seed, and demanded to know where he had found it.

• Shang Qingzheng felt movement in her cultivation bottleneck and hurried into secluded cultivation.
• Jiang Yang studied the Seasonal Renewal Spirit-Nurturing Incantation and learned that reviving the Spirit Seed could require years of ongoing effort.
• Jiang Yang examined the black Spirit Seed he had bought at the Black Market and weighed whether to try the spell.
• Bai Tang emerged from the Spirit Sword, took the seed from Jiang Yang, and demanded to know where he had gotten it.
• Jiang Yang told Bai Tang he had bought the seed at a stall and asked what made it special.

Bai Tang identified the Spirit Seed as a depleted inheritance seed of the Cracking Wood path and recognized Jiang Yang’s Four Seasons Transformation method as a way to revive it. Jiang Yang decided to train for combat so he could seek the Spirit Treasures the method required, and Bai Tang began teaching him.

• Bai Tang explained the Spirit Seed’s origins and the Cracking Wood path, then warned that the seed had lost most of its vitality.
• Jiang Yang showed Bai Tang the Four Seasons Transformation Containment Spirit-Nurturing Guiding Incantation, and she said it could restore the seed if he gathered four seasonal Spirit Treasures.
• Bai Tang warned Jiang Yang to keep the rare method secret, and he asked her to teach him how to fight other cultivators.
• Jiang Yang resolved to leave his safe routine eventually and seek the Spirit Treasures, knowing he needed combat experience to survive beyond the sect.
• That night, Bai Tang appeared openly in the grove and told Jiang Yang to attack her; he unleashed his Sword Art at full power.

Bai Tang pushed Jiang Yang through a punishing sword spar, teaching him to fight decisively and stake his life on a strike. Jiang Yang finally found an opening with a calculated attack, and Bai Tang acknowledged that he had taken his first step before he collapsed from exhaustion.

• Bai Tang dodged Jiang Yang's hesitant Sword Qi and scolded him for lacking the resolve to kill.
• Jiang Yang attacked again, but Bai Tang parried every move and explained that he wasted strength on empty motions.
• Bai Tang took the offensive and repeatedly struck Jiang Yang with her Vine Sword as he struggled to defend himself.
• Jiang Yang adapted to Bai Tang's attacks and used three streaks of Sword Qi to force her toward his lethal thrust.
• Bai Tang dodged the attacks, praised Jiang Yang's strike, and stopped his sword three inches from her before he collapsed from exhaustion.

Bai Tang trained Jiang Yang through punishing sword practice, then watched his skill improve until he nearly defeated her. After she conceded the match and agreed to teach him sword flight, Jiang Yang greeted the sunrise at the cliff’s edge, brimming with excitement.

• After Jiang Yang exhausted himself in training, Bai Tang guided him through meditation and healed the welts she had inflicted during their lesson.
• Half a month later, Jiang Yang attacked Bai Tang with increasingly skilled Sword Qi, but she escaped by merging with the Vine Sword and flying into the air.
• Jiang Yang protested that Bai Tang had cheated, and she teased him before conceding that he had won.
• Jiang Yang asked to learn how to fly on a sword, and Bai Tang agreed to teach him.
• At dawn, Jiang Yang stood at the cliff’s edge with his hair loose as Bai Tang watched him silently.

Jiang Yang left Rain Xiang Mountain for his first journey beyond the Sect, heading toward the Great Dark Cold Marsh. At a temple near the marsh, he killed five bandits who attacked him, and continued to reckon with the reality of taking lives.

• Jiang Yang discussed the control of Sword Qi with Bai Tang as he walked away from Rain Xiang Mountain.
• Jiang Yang crossed the Jin River and approached the Great Dark Cold Marsh, studying the region's position between three Sects.
• Jiang Yang heard fighting at a temple and found bandits trying to force an old man to surrender spirit rice meant for King Alligator.
• Several bandits charged Jiang Yang, while their leader recognized his blue robe and fled with the others.
• Jiang Yang used Sword Qi to kill the five bandits who had attacked him, then considered his first experience of killing.

After Jiang Yang drove off bandits and rescued the temple keeper Li Rong, he learned about the fading Fortune Qi tradition and received its cultivation method. The chapter left Jiang Yang considering why the tradition could no longer gather qi: the abandoned temples had lost the worshippers whose prayers produced it.

• Jiang Yang killed the bandits who attacked Li Rong, then accepted the temple keeper’s invitation to drink tea.
• Li Rong introduced his orange cat, General, and explained that his temple worshipped the Blessing Heavenly Official, a deity depicted as a Wildcat.
• Li Rong told Jiang Yang that the Heavenly Official had lost his station and that Fortune Qi cultivators could no longer gather qi, leaving their path stalled at Qi Refining.
• Li Rong gave Jiang Yang the temple’s Third Grade cultivation method, the Scripture of Fortune Prayers and Auspiciousness.
• Jiang Yang read that the method gathered Qi of Enduring Prayer and Fortune from worshippers’ prayers, and realized that the loss of worshippers explained the tradition’s decline.

Jiang Yang learned about the Dark Marsh and its Greenback Alligator from Li Rong before entering the marsh to search for Green-Eyed Green-Twig Snakes. As he walked into the forest, he asked Bai Tang whether she could protect him if he provoked the alligator.

• Jiang Yang returned Li Rong’s Jade Slip and asked him about the Dark Marsh and its dangers.
• Li Rong explained that the Foundation Establishment Realm Greenback Alligator ruled the outskirts and received Spirit Rice from him in exchange for leaving his temple alone.
• Li Rong confirmed that Green-Eyed Green-Twig Snakes appeared in the area, and Jiang Yang recalled that he needed their fangs and gallbladders for a mission.
• Jiang Yang donated a Spirit Stone at the Celestial Official Temple, then asked Li Rong whether he had considered leaving; Li Rong said he could not leave the cat called General.
• After leaving the temple, Jiang Yang asked Bai Tang about Fortune Qi, and she warned that luck could not save someone from a deadly Tribulation Qi.
• Jiang Yang entered the dense forest and asked Bai Tang if she could protect him should he provoke the Greenback Alligator.