Chapter Summaries

Li Xiaoya sought guidance from Dongling Daojian and fought him in a test that ended after a hundred moves. After Dongling Daojian departed, Ghost Sword Deity confronted him, while Li Xiaoya returned to the Treasure Ship Market and found the cultivators there stirred by a major event.

• Li Xiaoya recognized Dongling Daojian, asked for Sword Dao guidance, and faced his pressure and attacks.
• Li Xiaoya and Dongling Daojian exchanged sword strikes before fighting at close range with their swords.
• Dongling Daojian stopped the battle after reaching Li Xiaoya's neck, declared "One hundred" and offered the words "Simple! Complex!" before leaving.
• Dongling Daojian sensed Ghost Sword Deity hiding in a cloud and exchanged a sword strike with him.
• Li Xiaoya returned to the Treasure Ship Market, where Zhang Hong told him that something big had happened.

Li Xiaoya told Zhang Hong and Liu Xian'er that he had sought guidance from Dongling Daojian, while the Ghost Sword Deity warned Dongling that Old Dragon Head planned to attack Bell Sword Mountain. After gathering more ingredients at the Underground Auction, Li Xiaoya was ambushed as he emerged from a teleportation formation.

• Li Xiaoya explained to Zhang Hong and Liu Xian'er that his clash with Dongling Daojian had been a request for sword guidance, not a fight.
• The Ghost Sword Deity warned Dongling Daojian that Old Dragon Head was planning to strike Bell Sword Mountain and asked him about Li Xiaoya's swordsmanship.
• Dongling Daojian left in haste after signaling that Li Xiaoya ranked third in swordsmanship, while the Ghost Sword Deity stayed behind to refine the Black Long Saber.
• Li Xiaoya attended the Underground Auction and spent his spirit stones on ingredients for the Nine-Turn Spirit Communion Pill, leaving only a dozen or so ingredients to find.
• As Li Xiaoya emerged from a teleportation formation, attackers struck him with magic treasures and pursued him before he could recover enough to cast spells.

Li Xiaoya fought off eight masked demonic cultivators who ambushed him over his Underground Auction treasures, and two Steel-armored Beetles emerged from their cocoons and joined the battle. He chased down the fleeing attackers and stopped one to demand their identities.

• Li Xiaoya identified eight Nascent Soul Realm demonic cultivators as his ambushers and destroyed their incoming treasures with his swords.
• Li Xiaoya released two newly evolved Steel-armored Beetles, which bit through the leader's armor and killed him.
• Li Xiaoya used his treasures and Storm Gold-Light Wings to pursue the remaining cultivators as they fled in different directions.
• Li Xiaoya caught one fleeing cultivator, held the Fire Dragon Sword to his shoulder, and demanded to know who he was.

Li Xiaoya defeated a group of rogue cultivators who had ambushed him and tried to learn who had hired them. One captive named the Heaven-Shaking Great Emperor before a soul contract killed him, leaving Li Xiaoya wondering who that person was.

• Li Xiaoya exposed one attacker’s face while his golden incarnation killed another, and his Shaking-Heaven Divine Fire Staff and silver giant bird defeated the remaining cultivators.
• Li Xiaoya questioned the surviving captives, noticed their lies, and killed one who tried to mislead him.
• A bound cultivator identified the Heaven-Shaking Great Emperor as the one who sent the attackers, but a soul contract summoned black lightning that killed him.
• Li Xiaoya wondered who the Heaven-Shaking Great Emperor was and let his Steel-armored Beetles devour the corpses as his weapons returned with the Storage Pouches.

Li Xiaoya returned from the Underground Auction to find the Treasure Ship Market missing, then rescued three Spring Returning Church disciples fleeing Fire Dragon Palace cultivators. He learned that the Fire Dragon Palace had broken through the Spring Returning Church’s defenses more than twenty days earlier, and the girls were heading to the Heavenly Dao Sect.

• Li Xiaoya found materials for the Nine-Turn Spirit-Linking Pill among the Storage Pouches and flew toward the Treasure Ship Market with his Steel-armored Beetles.
• Li Xiaoya reached the market’s location and found only empty sea, then flew toward the mainland to ask what had happened.
• Li Xiaoya intercepted Fire Dragon Palace cultivators pursuing three Spring Returning Church girls and frightened them into fleeing.
• Li Xiaoya asked the girls why they were being pursued, and the oldest explained that the Fire Dragon Palace had attacked their church more than twenty days earlier.
• The girls told Li Xiaoya they were going to the Heavenly Dao Sect.

Li Xiaoya returned to the Heavenly Dao Sect with three Spring Returning Church disciples he had rescued and learned that the Fire Dragon Palace had destroyed their sect. He reunited with his family and companions, then hurried toward the Treasure Ship Market after hearing Qin Xian shouting at the refugees.

• Li Xiaoya met Lin Jingru, Hai Qiao'er, and Hai Ping'er and offered to take them to the Heavenly Dao Sect.
• On the way, Li Xiaoya suspected the Fire Dragon Palace had planned its assault on the Spring Returning Church with help from the Heaven-Shaking Great Emperor and wondered whether it had targeted other sects.
• Li Xiaoya reached Divine Path Mountain and reunited with Liu Xian'er, Zhang Hong, Li Mother, Qin Xian, and Li Muzhi beside the Treasure Ship Market.
• Qin Xian told Li Xiaoya that the Treasure Ship Market had evacuated surviving Spring Returning Church cultivators, and Li Mother reassured the three girls that their fellow disciples were safe.
• Zhang Hong said the Spring Returning Church headquarters had fallen, only a quarter of its cultivators had escaped, and the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning was believed to have died.
• Li Xiaoya heard Qin Xian angrily shouting at Spring Returning Church cultivators and flew toward the Treasure Ship Market to investigate.

Li Xiaoya arrived as Alchemy Spirit Child accused the Heavenly Dao Sect of enabling the Fire Dragon Palace’s attack on the Spring Returning Church. After stopping Alchemy Spirit Child’s assault and explaining the sect’s dilemma, Li Xiaoya persuaded him to cooperate with an inquiry into the tragedy.

• Li Xiaoya recognized Alchemy Spirit Child arguing with Qin Xian and learned that the Spring Returning Church survivors blamed the Heavenly Dao Sect’s pact with the Fire Dragon Palace for their sect’s destruction.
• Alchemy Spirit Child attacked Qin Xian after mistaking his exotic flame for proof that the Heavenly Dao Sect was allied with the Fire Dragon Palace.
• Li Xiaoya intervened with a golden fist, defeated Alchemy Spirit Child’s attack, and introduced himself.
• Qin Xian explained that the Heavenly Dao Sect’s elders were divided over whether to shelter the Spring Returning Church survivors or require them to join the sect.
• Li Xiaoya told Alchemy Spirit Child that the sect was seeking a way to help despite the pact, then invited the survivors to give a detailed account of what had happened.
• Alchemy Spirit Child accepted Li Xiaoya’s explanation and welcomed him inside.

Alchemy Spirit Child recounted how the Fire Dragon Palace launched a devastating attack on Spring Renewal Valley while its elders were away. The Medicine Venerable fought the red dragon and ordered Spring Returning Church’s Nascent Soul Realm elders to take the disciples to the Heavenly Dao Sect.

• Alchemy Spirit Child dismissed the disciples, brought everyone into a hall, and began telling the story of Spring Renewal Valley.
• More than twenty days earlier, the Fire Dragon Palace’s assault destroyed the Ancient Wood Divine Gang Formation and the Ten-Thousand-Year Treasure Tree, then bombarded the valley with beams.
• The Medicine Venerable ordered the cultivators to flee and led them out of the valley to confront the attackers.
• Red warships surrounded Spring Renewal Valley, and Old Dragon Head charged the Medicine Venerable in his red dragon form.
• The Medicine Venerable’s halberd was knocked aside, and he ordered the Nascent Soul Realm elders to take the disciples to the Heavenly Dao Sect.

Li Xiaoya questioned Alchemy Spirit Child and Elder Hai about the destruction of the Spring Returning Church and learned that the Fire Dragon Palace was advancing toward other righteous sects. The chapter ended when Heavenly Dao Sect elders arrived to offer the church’s survivors a place in their ranks.

• Alchemy Spirit Child and Elder Hai recounted how the Fire Dragon Palace destroyed the Spring Returning Church, and Li Xiaoya identified the Four Symbols Spirit Cannon as the likely weapon.
• Li Xiaoya suspected Elder Hai was hiding information about a past search for another Four Symbols Spirit Cannon, while Elder Hai blamed the dead Elder Hua for handling the matter.
• Qin Xian reported that the Fire Dragon Palace was moving toward Beast Spirit Valley or Zhongjiao and trying to recruit other demonic sects, prompting Li Xiaoya to warn them against intervening.
• Qin Xian mentioned the unknown Heaven-Shaking Great Emperor, whom Li Xiaoya recognized as the name behind his earlier ambush.
• A cultivator announced that Elder Wang and other Heavenly Dao Sect members had arrived to absorb the Spring Returning Church survivors into their ranks.

Li Xiaoya watched the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Spring Returning Church clash over whether the rescued sect would be absorbed and whether the Heavenly Dao Sect would help it retaliate against the Fire Dragon Palace. As Alchemy Spirit Child proposed joining allies to counterattack, several Spirit Communion Stage cultivators arrived.

• Li Xiaoya emerged with Alchemy Spirit Child and found Elder Ma, Elder Wang, and other Heavenly Dao Sect elders confronting the Spring Returning Church cultivators.
• Elder Wang claimed the sect had decided how to handle the Spring Returning Church, while Li Xiaoya challenged Elder Ma over his claim that an Elder Council meeting had been properly convened.
• Qingyu accused Elder Ma of insulting the Spring Returning Church, and Alchemy Spirit Child rallied his people by insisting they would live and die together rather than submit to the Heavenly Dao Sect.
• Elder Ma provoked the Spring Returning Church disciples, and Elder Wang tried to calm the dispute as Alchemy Spirit Child threatened to leave and pressed the Heavenly Dao Sect to help avenge the sect's destruction.
• Alchemy Spirit Child proposed joining Beast Spirit Valley and Folo Temple at Bell Sword Mountain to counterattack the Fire Dragon Palace, and Li Xiaoya urged him to investigate the situation first.
• Several Spirit Communion Stage cultivators streaked in from the horizon, drawing Li Xiaoya's attention.

High Person Qianshan, the Xuanmen Buddha, and the wounded Old Man Huichun returned to Treasure Ship Market as the Heavenly Dao Sect debated sheltering the destroyed Huichun Sect. At the Elders' Hall meeting, Qianshan condemned the earlier decision and revealed that the sect had been scammed, while the elders began arguing over who had approved the plan.

• High Person Qianshan, the Xuanmen Buddha, and Old Man Huichun arrived at Treasure Ship Market, where Alchemy Spirit Child recognized Huichun and the Heavenly Dao Sect cultivators welcomed Qianshan back.
• Elder Wang explained that the Huichun Sect had been destroyed by the Fire Dragon Palace and had sought refuge, prompting Qianshan to rebuke him and take charge.
• Alchemy Spirit Child demanded terms beyond joining as ordinary disciples, and Qianshan offered Old Man Huichun the position of Grand Supreme Second Elder before leaving for Divine Path Mountain.
• The Xuanmen Buddha ordered the Heavenly Dao Sect cultivators to attend the Elders' Hall meeting and barred others from entering Treasure Ship Market without his or Qianshan's permission.
• At the meeting, Qianshan activated the hall's restrictions, said the sect had been scammed, and demanded an account of the plan to incorporate the Huichun Sect.
• Elder Wang said most elders had approved the plan, but Shao Shiqi and Elder Lin challenged that claim until a deafening voice shouted for them to stop.

The Heavenly Dao Sect’s elders debated the Fire Dragon Palace’s assault on the Spring Returning Church and the sect’s response to the brewing war. Li Xiaoya revealed that the Fire Dragon Palace had a Four Symbols Spirit Cannon, prompting the sect to warn its allies, while High Person Qianshan asked for a plan to deal with the Fire Dragon Palace.

• High Person Qianshan halted the debate over absorbing the Spring Returning Church and asked Zhang Bingmei to report on the situation outside.
• Zhang Bingmei reported that the Fire Dragon Palace had plundered the Spring Returning Church’s territory and was seeking allies among the Demonic Path sects, while other Righteous Path sects prepared to resist.
• Li Xiaoya asked how the Fire Dragon Palace had breached the Spring Returning Church’s defenses, and Zhang Bingmei said a powerful spirit cannon had reportedly destroyed them.
• Li Xiaoya identified the weapon as the Four Symbols Spirit Cannon and reminded the elders that the Heavenly Dao Sect had discovered one at the Four-Tower Cave Heaven over two hundred years earlier.
• High Person Qianshan ordered an elder to warn the major Righteous Path sects and told Zhang Bingmei to investigate the cannon, while Elder Wang and Elder Ma avoided discussing their past suppression of the discovery.
• Dong Santong proposed that elite cultivators leave the sect to fight the Fire Dragon Palace, but High Person Qianshan explained that the heavenly tribulation pact would still bind them; he then asked Li Xiaoya for his idea.

Li Xiaoya proposed keeping other Demonic Path sects out of the war while supporting the Righteous Path against the Fire Dragon Palace, and he persuaded most elders that this would protect the Heavenly Dao Sect. The discussion ended with Buddha Xuanmen asking what aid could meaningfully strengthen the other sects.

• Li Xiaoya argued that the Heavenly Tribulation Pact protected the Heavenly Dao Sect from the Fire Dragon Palace’s Four Symbols Spirit Cannon and left the sect free to block other Demonic Path forces.
• Elder Ma and Elder Wang warned that the Demonic Path sects might unite against the Heavenly Dao Sect, but Li Xiaoya argued they lacked incentive and the means to break its defenses.
• Li Xiaoya proposed supplying the Righteous Path sects with treasures, elixirs, spiritual artifacts, and weapons so they could defeat the Fire Dragon Palace and owe the Heavenly Dao Sect support.
• Buddha Xuanmen agreed with much of Li Xiaoya’s plan but asked what supplies could actually increase the other sects’ strength.

Li Xiaoya demonstrated a self-repairing mobile spirit cannon to the Heavenly Dao Sect elders, showing its range and destructive power. Impressed by the weapon, High Person Qianshan ordered the sect to prepare for battle.

• Li Xiaoya proposed supplying other sects with mobile spirit cannons, and High Person Qianshan agreed to evaluate one.
• Li Xiaoya deployed the cannon in the plaza and activated its transforming mechanism for the elders.
• Qin Xian struck the cannon with his flying sword, and it repaired its damage; Li Xiaoya then cut through its barrel, which also restored itself.
• Li Xiaoya explained that the cannon could target by divine sense at a range of three hundred li and fired it at a distant mountain, blasting through it and leveling another mountain behind it.
• High Person Qianshan praised the cannon and ordered the elders to prepare for battle.

After Li Xiaoya demonstrated the spirit cannon’s power and explained how it could be produced and protected from copying, High Person Qianshan mobilized the Heavenly Dao Sect for war. Li Xiaoya was ordered to refine twenty cannons and then command the Second Army at the Qingyang Kingdom Border, as the sect began preparing for an unprecedented Righteous-Demonic War.

• Li Xiaoya told the elders that each spirit cannon consumed several hundred thousand spirit stones, that he had eight ready, and that he could refine about a dozen per month.
• High Person Qianshan ordered the Heavenly Dao Sect to prepare for war and assigned Ma Luo, Zhang Bingmei, and Wang Qihai their mobilization duties.
• High Person Qianshan ordered Li Xiaoya to refine twenty spirit cannons, then take command of the Second Army at the Qingyang Kingdom Border.
• High Person Qianshan appointed Murong Qi as the Second Army’s temporary commander and deputy, and assigned Shao Shiqi to deliver cannons and supplies to the other sects.
• Liu Xian'er and Zhang Hong were tasked with transporting supplies for the First Army, while Dong Santong and several elders joined Li Xiaoya’s Second Army.

After learning that the Fire Dragon Palace had attacked the Spring Returning Church with a Four Symbols Spirit Cannon, the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning discovered that Elder Hai had concealed the Heavenly Dao Sect’s warning. Elder Hai revealed himself as a demonic beast and fled, leaving the Medicine Venerable in pursuit with a green gourd trapping spell.

• Alchemy Spirit Child reported the Spring Returning Church’s survivors and losses, and the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning learned that Li Xiaoya had rescued three disciples.
• The Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning learned that the Fire Dragon Palace’s Four Symbols Spirit Cannon had destroyed the church and that the Heavenly Dao Sect had warned them about it.
• Elder Hai admitted that Elder Hua had dismissed the warning, then tried to escape when the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning attacked him.
• Alchemy Spirit Child blocked Elder Hai at the doorway, but Elder Hai unleashed black qi, transformed into a demonic beast, and smashed through the Treasure Ship Market’s ceiling.
• The Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning chased Elder Hai toward Divine Path Mountain, then used a green gourd to shine green light down on him.

Elder Hai transformed into a powerful demonic beast and fought High Person Qianshan and the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning before Heavenly Dao Sect’s Spirit Cannons destroyed him. Afterward, High Person Qianshan asked how the beast had breached the sect’s defenses, and the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning hesitated to answer as someone arrived from Heavenly Capital Peak.

• Elder Hai transformed into a huge demonic beast and broke free of the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning’s Gourd.
• High Person Qianshan struck the fleeing beast with a green Light Blade, severing both its hands, but the beast turned them into giant weapons and attacked.
• High Person Qianshan and the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning destroyed the beast’s giant hands, but it attacked them with hell lightning and tried to escape.
• Red beams fired from Heavenly Capital Peak struck the beast repeatedly and blasted it into powder.
• High Person Qianshan told the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning that the beams came from Heavenly Dao Sect’s Spirit Cannons, then asked how the demonic beast had entered the sect.
• The Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning hesitated to answer, and a golden streak of light arrived from Heavenly Capital Peak, calling out to Martial Uncle and Senior Medicine Venerable.

Li Xiaoya destroyed a demonic beast with the Heavenly Dao Sect’s spirit cannons, and High Person Qianshan met with the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning to discuss the beast and the threat of a Demon Realm invasion. They suspected the Fire Dragon Palace was colluding with the Demon Realm, and Qianshan raised the unresolved question of whether the Spring Returning Church would stay or leave.

• Li Xiaoya used the spirit cannons to kill the demonic beast, spending millions of spirit stones in the process.
• High Person Qianshan dismissed the gathered disciples and invited the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning to discuss the cannons and the Spring Returning Church’s situation.
• The Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning admitted that the beast had possessed Elder Hai, and Qianshan explained that Buddha Xuanmen had also been possessed by a demonic beast’s avatar.
• High Person Qianshan and the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning concluded that signs pointed to a large-scale Demon Realm invasion within one or two thousand years.
• High Person Qianshan suggested that the Fire Dragon Palace had used Elder Hai as an inside agent, and the Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning considered that Old Dragon Head might be willing to collude because he would soon ascend.
• High Person Qianshan began discussing whether the Spring Returning Church would stay or leave.

The Spring Returning Church joined the Heavenly Dao Sect as an affiliated sect while the Fire Dragon Palace sought to enlist the Hehuan Cult in the coming war. After six months of mounting tension, enormous fortifications stood along the border between Liang Kingdom and Qingyang Kingdom.

• The Medicine Venerable of Spring Returning announced that the Spring Returning Church would temporarily join the Heavenly Dao Sect, and he became its Second Elder.
• Old Dragon Head visited the Hehuan Cult and urged Hehuan Young Master and Hehuan Fairy to join the Fire Dragon Palace's campaign against their old enemies.
• Hehuan Young Master and Hehuan Fairy agreed to prepare for war but planned to wait until both sides were nearly exhausted before acting.
• The Hehuan Cult convened an emergency Elder Council meeting, while unrest and preparations spread across the Great Illusion Continent.
• Half a year later, restriction towers, patrol boats, and a vast super fortress guarded the border between Liang Kingdom and Qingyang Kingdom.

Li Xiaoya oversaw the Second Army’s border fortress as the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Demonic Path remained locked in a standoff, while other fronts also saw fierce fighting. When Zhang Hong and Liu Xian'er arrived, Li Xiaoya greeted them happily but noticed that Liu Xian'er looked unwell.

• Li Xiaoya maintained the Second Army’s fortress during a standoff with Demon Ghost Cliff and the Demonic Sword Sect, while Core Condensation Stage disciples fought over the borderlands.
• The Fire Dragon Palace was forced back by Bell Sword Mountain and Beast Spirit Valley, then retreated to Spring Renewal Valley with its Four Symbols Spirit Cannon protected by Old Dragon Head and Sun Haotian.
• Fighting continued on the other fronts, and turmoil spread among mortal kingdoms as the war between cultivators escalated.
• Li Xiaoya spotted an enormous flying boat approaching and flew out to welcome Zhang Hong and Liu Xian'er.
• Li Xiaoya asked after his parents, and Liu Xian'er reassured him before he noticed her poor complexion and asked what was wrong.