Chapter Summaries

Qingxiao won one clam pearl for the Seventh Peak, but his team lost the remaining contests, while Xu Taiping realized his sword training was helping him read other cultivators’ movements. As the disciples prepared for the next event, Xu Taiping continued planning a chance to kill Lu Chen and revealed that Recluse Sansan was teaching him swordsmanship despite never having met him.

• Qingxiao secured the first clam pearl for the Seventh Peak, then rushed to help Jiang Zhi and Zhang Qian after the contest ended.
• Xu Taiping sensed Jiang Zhi and Zhang Qian weakening, and he credited his sword training with Recluse Sansan for recognizing their condition.
• The Seventh Peak failed to win any of the next six pearls, and Zhao Linglong encouraged the disappointed competitors.
• Xu Ziyan explained that the Fifth Peak’s internal troubles had left it with no pearls, while Xu Taiping thought about finding the right moment to kill Lu Chen.
• Zhao Linglong and Xu Ziyan discussed the upcoming event and asked Xu Taiping about his sword training, learning that he had not met Recluse Sansan in person.

Xu Taiping told his senior sisters how Recluse Sansan had trained him in Sword Flight, astonishing them with how quickly he had mastered difficult exercises. The others recognized his progress as extraordinary, while Xu Taiping concluded that Recluse Sansan’s method was the reason.

• Xu Taiping explained that Recluse Sansan had him practice from detailed wooden-board instructions and cut sword marks into a cliff each day.
• Xu Taiping revealed that he completed three thousand sword strokes on his first day and later increased his daily practice to six thousand thrusts.
• Xu Taiping said Recluse Sansan had recently assigned him to carve at least three thousand characters into the cliff each day, which he also managed.
• Xu Ziyan and Zhao Linglong told Xu Taiping that most Azure Profound Sect disciples took months to master Sword Flight and write with a flying sword.
• Xu Taiping recalled the Peak Lord’s praise of Recluse Sansan and decided that Sansan’s swordsmanship and teaching method explained his rapid progress.

Xu Taiping demonstrated his unexpectedly advanced Sword Flight Art and received a talisman from the Five Peaks for helping Liu Zijin. After agreeing to see her off in six days, he secretly told Bai Yu to scout one last time before they made their move.

• Xu Taiping used Sword Flight Art to free Xu Ziyan's sword, make it circle him, and return it to its scabbard, impressing Xu Ziyan and Zhao Linglong.
• Xu Ziyan said Xu Taiping's skill was sufficient for the fourth round, while Elder Sansan privately credited his own instruction for the rapid progress.
• Du Qianjiang thanked Xu Taiping for helping Liu Zijin, gave him a talisman drawn by the Five Peaks' Peak Lord, and invited him to see Liu Zijin off in six days.
• Xu Taiping accepted the gift and agreed to visit the Five Peaks' Cloud-Ascending Platform if he had time.
• As Xu Taiping and the others went downstairs, Zhao Linglong and Xu Ziyan condemned Lu; Xu Taiping agreed and secretly told Bai Yu to scout that night before they made their move in six days.

Xu Taiping sent a clone into the Nourishing Heart Pavilion to establish an alibi, then secretly traveled to Wind-Howling Mountain Villa to kill Lu Chen. He hid in Lu Chen’s courtyard while Bai Yu and Ping'an caused a commotion at the entrance, and the chapter ended as Lu Chen came out to investigate.

• Qingxiao escorted Xu Taiping to the Nourishing Heart Pavilion and worried that the Seventh Peak would lose the next rounds of the Seven Peaks Grand Competition.
• Xu Taiping revealed that his clone had entered the pavilion and set out with Fairy Lingyue for Wind-Howling Mountain Villa.
• Xu Taiping and Bai Yu flew high above the ground to avoid detection, and Fairy Lingyue agreed to disguise Xu Taiping as the Red-Haired Blade Ghost.
• Xu Taiping jumped from Bai Yu’s back into Lu Chen’s courtyard while Bai Yu and Ping'an drew attention to the villa’s entrance.
• Xu Taiping hid behind an elm tree as Lu Chen came out to see what was happening.

Xu Taiping disguised himself as a foreign-domain cultivator and attacked Lu Chen in the estate courtyard. He broke through Lu Chen’s defenses, but Lu Chen’s talismans kept the fight going as another fiery fist struck at Xu Taiping.

• After the guards left to deal with two demonic beasts, Lu Chen cursed the estate and threatened to settle his score with Liu Zijin in three years.
• Xu Taiping emerged from hiding and confronted Lu Chen, who mistook him for a foreign-domain cultivator hired by the Peak Lord of Five Peaks.
• Xu Taiping’s Azure Luan Ring repelled a lion demon and pierced a leopard demon while his Spring Tiger Saber struck Lu Chen’s talisman shield.
• Lu Chen counterattacked with a treasure-grade sword, but Xu Taiping’s wind wall blocked its fire and his next saber strike cracked the Profound-Rank Talisman Shield.
• Lu Chen threw a talisman that formed a giant fire fist, and Xu Taiping split it with his saber before another fist emerged from the shattered talisman.

Xu Taiping countered Lu Chen’s talismans and powerful attacks, but Lu Chen summoned a Golden-Armored Divine General that forced him onto the defensive. The chapter ended as Lu Chen and the Divine General attacked Xu Taiping together.

• Xu Taiping used Mountain Shatter to gravely wound the Leopard Demon and Lion Demon, destroy a fiery fist, and break Lu Chen’s Talisman Shield.
• Lu Chen unleashed a True Fire Talisman, but Xu Taiping extinguished its flames with the Ice Breath Art and moved behind him with Wind Shadow Step.
• Xu Taiping’s saber broke Lu Chen’s longsword and struck his chest, but Lu Chen’s Hedgehog Armor blocked the blow.
• Lu Chen summoned a Golden-Armored Divine General, whose Mo Dao parried Xu Taiping’s next attack and sent him staggering back.
• Lu Chen struck Xu Taiping’s Wind Wall from behind as the Divine General brought its Mo Dao down at him again.

Xu Taiping outmaneuvered Lu Chen with a clone, then shattered Lu Chen’s summoned Golden-Armored Divine General and badly wounded him with the Azure Luan Ring. Lu Chen sealed himself inside his Hedgehog armor, and Xu Taiping began battering him with a fist empowered by Fist Intent.

• Xu Taiping used the Azure Luan Ring’s Two-Finger Strike to drive Lu Chen and the Golden-Armored Divine General back, then created a clone and split apart.
• Lu Chen mistook the saber-wielding Xu Taiping for the real one and attacked him with the Divine General, while Xu Taiping’s other clone vanished.
• Xu Taiping appeared behind Lu Chen and used the Azure Luan Ring’s Three-Finger Strike: Sea-Splitting, shattering the Divine General and grievously injuring Lu Chen.
• Lu Chen activated the Hedgehog armor’s defensive ability, enclosing himself in a mass of spikes and taunting Xu Taiping to attack.
• Xu Taiping wrapped his fists in Blood Demon Spider silk, stepped forward with powerful Fist Intent, and smashed a punch toward Lu Chen’s armor.

Xu Taiping battered Lu Chen to avenge the girls he had harmed, then revealed that he was the mortal bone Lu Chen despised and killed him. He stored Lu Chen’s remains and Hedgehog Armor in his gourd and told Bai Yu to send in the guards.

• Xu Taiping struck Lu Chen repeatedly with Green Ox Fist and Thousandfold Force, breaking through his Hedgehog Armor and leaving him badly wounded.
• Lu Chen recognized Xu Taiping’s Charging Ox Breaks the Formation and tried to bargain for his life, but Xu Taiping continued attacking him.
• Xu Taiping dedicated his hundred and seventh punch to Sister Zi Jin and shattered Lu Chen’s bones, then dedicated his hundred and eighth to Sister Qingmei and destroyed his armor, organs, dantian, and apertures.
• Lu Chen asked why Xu Taiping would risk opposing the Sect for a mortal bone, and Xu Taiping revealed that he was the mortal bone Lu Chen despised.
• Xu Taiping beheaded Lu Chen, collected his head, corpse, and Hedgehog Armor pellet in his gourd, and told Bai Yu to let a squad of guards in.

Xu Taiping escaped Wind-Howling Mountain Villa after killing Lu Chen and setting the villa ablaze, then went to the Fifth Peak to see Liu Zijin off. He arrived at the Cloud-Ascending Platform just before Liu Zijin departed and began offering her gifts for her journey.

• Xu Taiping used mist and Bai Yu's help to escape the guards, then set Wind-Howling Mountain Villa on fire with spirit flames.
• Xu Taiping, Bai Yu, and Ping'an vowed to face the Peacock King together, and Xu Taiping told Fairy Lingyue he would drive evil from his own doorstep.
• Xu Taiping told Qingxiao he planned to see Liu Zijin off and used Du Qianjiang's Pass Token to reach the Fifth Peak.
• Liu Zijin waited with Shen Zhi and Du Qianjiang for Xu Taiping, though she feared he might not consider her a friend.
• Xu Taiping arrived on a spirit crane, greeted Liu Zijin and the others, and said he had brought her useful things for her journey.

Liu Zijin discovered Lu Chen’s head hidden beneath the gold Xu Taiping had given her, abandoned her plan to die, and resolved to pursue the Martial Artist’s Path. Meanwhile, the Seventh Peak lost its third Seven Peaks Grand Competition event and faced ridicule as Xu Taiping prepared to compete in the fourth.

• Xu Taiping gave Liu Zijin a box of gold as she left the mountain, and she bid farewell to him and the others.
• Alone in the forest, Liu Zijin prepared to kill herself but heard cracking sounds from the box and found Lu Chen’s head encased in ice beneath the gold.
• Liu Zijin wept, then decided she had no right to die and would pursue the Martial Artist’s Path before setting out along the mountain path.
• At Five Elders Pool, the Fifth Peak broke the Seventh Peak’s defensive sword formation, handing the Seventh Peak its third loss of the competition.
• Xu Taiping stopped Wu Liang from confronting disciples who mocked the Seventh Peak and learned that he would fill in for an injured disciple in the fourth event.

After the Seventh Peak lost another contest, Jiang Zhi insisted on competing in the next one despite her illness because losing every contest would cost the peak important resources. As the Red-Haired Blade Ghost became a suspect in Lu Chen’s death, Xu Taiping concealed what he knew and prepared for the upcoming suspended-weight engraving contest.

• Wu Liang defended Xu Taiping from disciples mocking him, and Xu Taiping asked about the next contest’s sword-engraving rules.
• Jiang Zhi and the others returned after a crushing defeat, and Zhao Linglong lamented that they had come close to winning.
• Jiang Zhi refused to sit out the next contest, while Zhao Linglong told Xu Taiping that losing every contest would cost the Seventh Peak Immortal Fields and Medicine Gardens.
• Jiang Zhi warned that the Red-Haired Blade Ghost was suspected of killing Lu Chen and told everyone not to go out before nightfall.
• Qingxiao reminded Xu Taiping to return before dark and gave him the rules for the contest in three days.

Xu Taiping confronted Zhou Ao after the Sixth Peak disciple kicked and mocked him, while Dugu Qingxiao and Jiang Zhi intervened. The Seventh Peak drew the Sixth Peak as its first opponent, leaving Xu Taiping unable to choose his Ship-Ballast Iron weight before seeing their first contestant’s choice.

• Xu Taiping recognized the hostile Sixth Peak disciple as Lin Buyu’s seventh senior brother, Zhou Ao, after Zhou Ao kicked him and mocked him.
• Zhao Linglong called out Zhou Ao, and Xu Taiping knocked his hand off his shoulder and calmly rebuked him.
• Dugu Qingxiao defended Xu Taiping, while the Sixth Peak’s eldest senior sister made Zhou Ao back away and apologized.
• Jiang Zhi drew the Sixth Peak as the Seventh Peak’s first opponent, and Qingxiao warned that Xu Taiping would have to match or exceed the first contestant’s Ship-Ballast Iron weight.

Zhou Ao of the Sixth Peak astonished the crowd by using his flying sword to suspend 130 jin of ship-ballast iron and carve all seven Qingxuan Seven Verses. After collapsing from the strain, he challenged Xu Taiping, leaving the Fourth Match poised for their confrontation.

• Elder Black Dragon began the Fourth Match and called for a Sixth Peak disciple to carve the verses.
• Xu Taiping said his flying sword had carried 60 jin during practice, and Jiang Zhi advised him to concede if the strain became too much.
• Zhou Ao selected 130 jin of ship-ballast iron, surprising both peaks’ disciples.
• Zhou Ao fought through soul weeping and used his flying sword to inscribe all seven verses on the cliff.
• After recovering, Zhou Ao looked toward Xu Ziyan and Lin Buyu, then challenged Xu Taiping to come up and fight.

Xu Taiping accepted the Seventh Peak’s challenge and attempted to control his rusty sword under 131 jin of ship-ballast iron, despite the soul-weeping pain. He endured the full weight and was told to carve the required characters.

• Zhou Ao challenged Xu Taiping, and the Seventh Peak chose him to respond after Lin Buyu predicted he would not forfeit.
• Xu Taiping stepped onto the Sword Platform and selected 131 jin of ship-ballast iron, while his seniors worried that he might force himself through soul-weeping pain.
• Xu Taiping summoned the rusty sword Elder Sansan had left him, drawing ridicule from spectators and angering the old man watching in the Cloud Tower.
• Elder Black Dragon attached the iron in stages, and Xu Taiping fought dizziness and weakness to keep the sword aloft.
• Xu Taiping held the sword under the full 131 jin, and Elder Black Dragon instructed him to carve the characters.

Xu Taiping endured the Soul Weeping pressure to write a verse with 131 jin of iron suspended from his Rusty Sword, defeating Zhou Ao. After the first round’s other matches concluded, the First Peak chose the Seventh Peak as its opponent for the next round.

• Xu Taiping kept raising his Rusty Sword despite the pain of Soul Weeping and wrote the verse on the cliff with 131 jin of iron attached.
• Xu Taiping recalled the sword, recovered from the pressure, and Elder Black Dragon declared him the winner over Zhou Ao.
• The next three Seventh Peak contestants won their matches, while the Second Peak defeated the Fifth Peak and the Third Peak defeated the Fourth Peak.
• Jiang Zhi predicted that the First Peak would choose the Seventh Peak, and Yan Bing confirmed her prediction by selecting them as its opponent.

The First Peak chose the Seventh Peak as its second-round opponent, and Ye Xuan began the Sword Flight contest by carrying 262 jin of ship-ballast iron with remarkable steadiness. His display left the onlookers astonished, while Xu Taiping wondered whether he could manage the same weight.

• Spectators mocked the Seventh Peak for facing the First Peak, while Qingxiao asked Xu Taiping about his recovery and Xu Taiping said he was nearly recovered.
• Elder Black Dragon announced that the First Peak would send out its disciple first, and Ye Xuan stepped onto the platform.
• Ye Xuan chose 262 jin of ship-ballast iron, twice the weight Xu Taiping had used in the previous match, provoking the crowd's attention.
• Ye Xuan's flying sword carried the full weight steadily to the cliff face, impressing the spectators and making many doubt that effort could overcome a lack of talent.

Xu Taiping chose to suspend two hundred and sixty-three jin of ship-ballast iron after Ye Xuan’s successful turn, despite the crowd’s taunts and his friends’ worries. His rusty sword hovered before Elder Black Dragon as the next test began.

• Ye Xuan suspended two hundred and sixty-two jin of ship-ballast iron and drew praise from the Cloud Tower.
• Ye Xuan challenged Xu Taiping to take his turn, while Qingxiao and Jiang Zhi told him to do his best.
• Xu Taiping chose two hundred and sixty-three jin of iron, prompting laughter and expectant looks from the crowd.
• Elder Black Dragon announced Xu Taiping’s chosen weight, and Zhao Linglong, Qingxiao, and Jiang Zhi worried that he had taken the risk for their sake.
• Xu Taiping’s rusty sword flew out and hovered before Elder Black Dragon, ready for the iron to be attached.

Xu Taiping endured soul-weeping pain to make his Rusty Sword carry 263 jin of ship-ballast iron and finish writing a verse, defeating Ye Xuan in the match. After Ye Xuan vowed to meet him at the Seven Peaks Grand Competition in six years, Xu Taiping collapsed unconscious, and the story resumed three days later at Hundred Herbs Hall.

• Elder Black Dragon added ship-ballast iron to Xu Taiping's Rusty Sword as Xu Taiping endured increasingly intense soul-weeping symptoms.
• Xu Taiping lifted the sword carrying 263 jin of iron and slowly wrote the seven-regulated verse on the cliff face.
• Elder Black Dragon declared Xu Taiping the winner, and Ye Xuan promised to meet him at the Seven Peaks Grand Competition in six years.
• Zhao Linglong, Qingxiao, and the others supported Xu Taiping, who lost consciousness after saying he needed to sleep.
• Three days later, Xu Taiping woke at Hundred Herbs Hall and realized he had slept through many events.

Xu Taiping learned that Fairy Lingyue had been wounded by the Red-Haired Blade Ghost and warned that it was inside Hundred Herbs Hall, hunting him. When Fourth Senior Brother Yidao knocked, Xu Taiping discovered that he had become the Blade Ghost’s puppet and was told not to open the door.

• Jiang Zhi told Xu Taiping that Seventh Peak had lost to Second Peak after their depleted disciples defeated First Peak, and that Qingxiao had won the title of Qingxuan Sword Champion at great cost.
• Jiang Zhi collapsed unconscious, and Xu Taiping laid her on his sickbed.
• Bai Yu told Xu Taiping that Fairy Lingyue had left him two letters and insisted that he immediately open the one marked with a circle.
• Xu Taiping read that Lingyue had been wounded by the Red-Haired Blade Ghost and warned him to take the talisman and shut the door because the ghost was in Hundred Herbs Hall.
• When Yidao knocked, Xu Taiping read Lingyue’s warning not to open the door because Yidao had become the Blade Ghost’s puppet and was connected to its pursuit of him.

Xu Taiping confronted the Red-Haired Blade Ghost, who had possessed Zhou Yidao and revealed that he wanted Xu Taiping’s body. Armed with Fairy Lingyue’s instructions and a Ghost-Sealing Talisman, Xu Taiping prepared to challenge him while the Blade Ghost threatened the Seven Peaks’ disciples.

• After reading Fairy Lingyue’s letter, Xu Taiping gripped the Three-Talents Ghost-Sealing Talisman as the Red-Haired Blade Ghost kicked open the door to Hundred Herbs Hall.
• Xu Taiping identified the Blade Ghost possessing Zhou Yidao and concealed his knowledge that Fairy Lingyue was still alive.
• The Blade Ghost said he wanted to take Xu Taiping’s place and tried to strike him, but Xu Taiping’s concealed body evaded the punch.
• Xu Taiping reasoned that the Blade Ghost needed his opponent to lose a blade contest before he could possess them, and the Blade Ghost confirmed that the deduction was clever.
• The Blade Ghost threatened to kill every disciple of the Seven Peaks except Xu Taiping, pointing to Jiang Zhi on the sickbed.