Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping planned to use the Supreme-Grade Soulfire Stone to let Gu Yu train in his Avīci Blade Domain for at least a month, hoping to raise Gu Yu’s combat strength enough to face Pang Zhong. Gu Yu agreed despite his fear, and Dongfang Yuejian was left wondering what made the Blade Domain so terrifying.

• Dongfang Yuejian and Master Xuanzhi doubted that Pang Zhong had truly reached the Heavenly Dragon Realm, but Xu Taiping said improving Gu Yu’s strength mattered more.
• Xu Taiping revealed that the Supreme-Grade Soulfire Stone would let Gu Yu cultivate in his Blade Domain Power for at least another month.
• Xuanzhi noticed that Xu Taiping’s Vajra Demon-Subduing Seal and Dhyana Seal had returned after he took on the Xingtian Divine Intent’s calamity.
• After Gu Yu woke, Xu Taiping told him Pang Zhong had likely reached the Heavenly Dragon Realm and asked whether he dared to enter the Avīci Blade Domain again.
• Gu Yu agreed, but trembled when Xu Taiping said the trial would last at least a month; Dongfang Yuejian asked what inside the Blade Domain frightened him so much.

Xu Taiping brought Dongfang Yuejian and Gu Yu into the Avīci Blade Domain for training, where Blade Ghost began teaching Gu Yu and sent Xu Taiping and Dongfang Yuejian toward the Twelfth Layer. Dongfang Yuejian recognized Blade Ghost’s name from her ancestor’s travelogue, leaving Xu Taiping eager to learn what it said about his origins.

• Blade Ghost told Xu Taiping that the Eleventh Layer had been repaired and invited him to bring Dongfang Yuejian into the Blade Domain for training.
• Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, and Gu Yu entered the Blade Domain while Master Xuanzhi guarded them in seclusion.
• Blade Ghost sent Xu Taiping and Dongfang Yuejian toward the Twelfth Layer and began training Gu Yu, whose aura briefly vanished before returning.
• Xu Taiping told Dongfang Yuejian that Blade Ghost had guided his Blade Techniques but knew little about his own identity.
• Dongfang Yuejian said her ancestor’s travelogue mentioned a powerful Blade Ghost who also knew nothing about his origins, and Xu Taiping asked what else it recorded.

A month into Gu Yu’s trial in the Infernal Blade Prison, he awakened a powerful blade domain and defeated the Blade Slave in battle. The breakthrough gave him a chance to face Pang Zhong, though he killed himself afterward to resume the trial.

• Dongfang Yuejian, Xu Taiping, and the Blade Ghost watched Gu Yu struggle against the Blade Slave and worried that he could not defeat a Heavenly Dragon Realm Dragon Catcher.
• Gu Yu broke through the Blade Slave’s blade qi blockade and opened his blade domain.
• Gu Yu used Furious Lion’s Roar, Thousand Kills with Every Inch to shatter the Blade Slave’s fire-dragon slash and destroy him.
• The Blade Ghost praised Gu Yu’s blade domain, and Dongfang Yuejian said it could let him fight Pang Zhong even if Pang reached the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
• After waving to the three observers, Gu Yu smashed his own head apart to continue the trial.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost discussed clues to Blade Ghost’s origins and the Taiyi Sect’s spirit mirror. Gu Yu requested a fight against the Blade Slave with all restrictions lifted, but after the Blade Slave overwhelmed him and attacked the group, Xu Taiping stopped it with one slash.

• Xu Taiping asked Blade Ghost again whether he remembered Kang Cangzi and their supposed visit to Yellow Millet Cave Heaven, but Blade Ghost had no such memories.
• Blade Ghost suggested that the Taiyi Sect’s spirit mirror might reveal cultivators who had appeared in the upper and lower realms, and Xu Taiping noted that the sect was also connected to his search for the remaining Taixuan Clone Art fragments.
• Gu Yu asked Blade Ghost to remove the Blade Slave’s final two restrictions so he could test himself against its full strength.
• Blade Ghost lifted the restrictions, and Gu Yu drew his blade and unleashed his furious lion blade domain.
• The Blade Slave cut through Gu Yu’s blade domain and body in a single attack, then turned its blade toward Xu Taiping and the others.
• Xu Taiping split the Blade Slave in two with one slash and pinned its severed halves in the sand with his blade force.

Xu Taiping let Dongfang Yuejian and Gu Yu take turns fighting the Old Blade Slave while he watched. Gu Yu unleashed his Jade Shatter Art and revealed the third layer of his blade domain, leaving Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost aghast at its killing power.

• Xu Taiping declined to fight the Old Blade Slave again and invited Dongfang Yuejian to take his place.
• Xu Taiping withdrew his blade force, and Blade Ghost was surprised that he could control it; Xu Taiping said he wanted to master the Spirit Bone Stele’s Demon-Slaying Blade deductions before sparring with him.
• Dongfang Yuejian used the Spring and Autumn Brush to sweep away the Blade Slave’s fire-rain attack and strike him into the Great Desert.
• After exhausting herself with two strokes, Dongfang Yuejian yielded the final training opportunity to Gu Yu, whose body had recovered.
• Gu Yu used the Jade Shatter Art and activated Blade Domain Third Layer, Angry Lion Sea Swallowing, shocking Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost with its killing power.

Gu Yu defeated the Blade Slave with his terrifying threefold blade domain, while Xu Taiping and the others left the Blade Prison. Xu Taiping learned that Pang Zhong had reached the Heavenly Dragon Realm and that their team was scheduled to challenge him last in the Test the Blade Assembly.

• Gu Yu swallowed the Blade Slave's blade force and desert sand, then overwhelmed him with a storm of blade shadows and killed him.
• Blade Ghost warned Xu Taiping that Gu Yu's pure killing intent could harm him if his Dao heart became unstable, but Xu Taiping trusted Gu Yu's years of heart cultivation.
• Blade Ghost sent Xu Taiping and the others out of the Blade Prison and said that absorbing three Soulfire Stones might let him reopen the Fifteenth Layer Blade Prison.
• Xu Taiping and the others returned to the earth-vein cavern, where Xuanzhi told them that Pang Zhong had broken through to the Heavenly Dragon Realm.
• Xuanzhi explained that Dragon Catchers had to defeat Pang Zhong to earn a Dragon-Slaying Token, and that Xu Taiping's team was scheduled for the final match after sixteen challengers.

Xu Taiping and his companions learned that Gu Yu would face Pang Zhong in the Test the Blade Assembly, where a new rule and powerful rewards could give them a chance to rally the human Dragon-Slaying Persons. As Qin Yun neared defeat, the Dragon-Slaying Ranking issued another bounty.

• Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, and Xuanzhi discussed the earlier matches, including draws that allowed some Dragon-Slaying Persons to remain in the Immortal Burial Ruins.
• Gu Yu learned that Pang Zhong was his opponent and vowed not to concede, saying he feared his cultivation path would end if he failed to slay the Demon Dragon.
• Dongfang Yuejian read a new Battle Merit Ledger rule allowing a victorious Dragon Catcher to recall eliminated Dragon-Slaying Persons and grant them Dragon-Slaying Tokens.
• Xu Taiping and Dongfang Yuejian prompted the Ranking Spirit to offer rewards, and the ledger announced treasures including a Sixth Turn Heart-Settling Pill and a clue to a Dragon-Slaying Stele.
• Dongfang Yuejian urged Gu Yu to defeat Pang Zhong so she could obtain the pill needed for her breakthrough, and Gu Yu promised to fight with all his strength.
• At the Profound Elixir Palace, Qin Yun neared defeat against Pang Zhong, and Duan Xiaoyu noticed the Dragon-Slaying Ranking issue another bounty.

The Dragon-Slaying Ranking announced a high-stakes bounty that could let a Dragon Catcher recall eliminated teams, with lavish rewards for defeating Pang Zhong. After Pang Zhong defeated Qin Yun, Xu Taiping’s team became next to face him, risking expulsion from the Immortal Burial Ruins.

• The Dragon-Slaying Ranking announced that a Dragon Catcher who defeated Pang Zhong could recall the eliminated Dragon-Slaying Persons teams.
• Zhang Moyan and the others concluded that the bounty was aimed at Xu Taiping’s team and wondered whether Gu Yu could match Pang Zhong’s strength.
• The ranking revealed rewards including the Five Ancestors' Glazed Glass Lamp, a Sixth Turn Heart-Settling Pill, a Ten-Thousand-Year Phoenix Tongue Fruit, a Dragon-Slaying Stele clue, and a thirty-thousand-strong military formation.
• Xiahou Qingyuan explained that Dragon-Slaying Steles could lead to hidden treasuries and immortal mansion ruins, while the group recognized that losing would mean expulsion from the Immortal Burial Ruins.
• Pang Zhong knocked Qin Yun from the arena and cracked his battle armor, leaving Xu Taiping’s team next to fight.

Xu Taiping and his companions watched as Gu Yu entered the Test the Blade Assembly to face Pang Zhong, whose formidable physique and Qi and Blood Power raised doubts about Gu Yu’s chances. When the contest began, their first clash sent Gu Yu flying to the arena’s edge while Pang Zhong retreated only a short distance.

• Zhu Huai and Xiahou Qingyuan recognized that Nine Abysses had arranged the Test the Blade Assembly to drive Xu Taiping’s team from the Immortal Burial Ruins.
• Gu Yu entered the arena, where Jiang Xuanfeng established rules forbidding attacks after a concession and prohibiting lethal blows.
• Xu Taiping observed Pang Zhong’s immense, battle-hardened physique, while Dongfang Yuejian sensed that his Qi and Blood Power surpassed Gu Yu’s.
• The arena’s wind wall dissipated, and Gu Yu and Pang Zhong charged at each other.
• Their first clash sent Gu Yu to the arena’s edge, while Pang Zhong was pushed back only a few dozen zhang.

Gu Yu fought Pang Zhong, whose immense strength and thousand-armed dharma aspect steadily suppressed Gu Yu’s blade force. Xu Taiping revealed that Gu Yu was deliberately allowing the pressure to build so he could unleash the ultimate realm blade strike he had comprehended in the Blade Prison, leaving Dongfang Yuejian uncertain whether the technique would work.

• Pang Zhong enlarged his body and attacked Gu Yu with massive fist shadows, while Gu Yu drew his blade and countered with Thousand Kills.
• Gu Yu’s flaming blade strike pierced Pang Zhong’s fist shadow and left a wound on the back of his hand, prompting Pang Zhong to summon a thousand-armed dharma aspect.
• Pang Zhong and his dharma aspect attacked with a barrage of punches as Gu Yu repeatedly used Thousand Kills, and Pang Zhong’s fist force gradually suppressed Gu Yu’s blade force.
• Zhu Huai and Jiang Cuicui questioned Gu Yu’s choice to contest Pang Zhong in force, while Xu Taiping explained that Gu Yu was letting his blade force be suppressed to enable his ultimate realm blade strike.
• Dongfang Yuejian asked whether Gu Yu truly needed to let his blade force reach its limit to unleash the ultimate realm Thousand Kills Blade strike.

Gu Yu repeatedly rekindled his suppressed blade force against Pang Zhong, growing stronger each time as Xu Taiping explained the method to Dongfang Yuejian. After Pang Zhong shattered Gu Yu’s blade force with a vastly stronger Dharma Aspect, Gu Yu unleashed the Ultimate Realm move Blade Burial.

• Pang Zhong knocked Gu Yu’s saber aside and struck him, but Gu Yu’s apparent body burst into blade qi as his true figure attacked from behind.
• Dongfang Yuejian realized Gu Yu was rekindling his blade force after suppression, and Xu Taiping confirmed that it would grow stronger each time.
• Spectators in the Spring Rain Pavilion watched Pang Zhong suppress Gu Yu’s blade force again, while Gu Yu repeatedly revived it from dead ashes.
• Pang Zhong strengthened his thousand-armed Dharma Aspect, shattered Gu Yu’s blade force, and forced Gu Yu to face the attack alone.
• Gu Yu’s blade force rekindled once more, drew back into his body, and erupted as he shouted, “Ultimate Realm, Blade Burial!”

Gu Yu and Pang Zhong exchanged powerful blade techniques as Gu Yu used the fight to assess his strength. Pang Zhong’s divine-intent-enhanced strike broke Gu Yu’s Back-Blade Form and struck his back.

• Gu Yu unleashed the Thousand Kills Blade, surrounding Pang Zhong with blade shadows that collided with his Dharma Aspect’s three thousand fists.
• Gu Yu emerged from the shattered blade shadows and forced Pang Zhong to draw his Mo Dao, then said the fight had helped him gauge his strength.
• Pang Zhong attacked with his Mo Dao while Gu Yu sent hundreds of blade lights through Pang Zhong’s blade force.
• Pang Zhong used his Dharma Aspect to form a wall of blade qi, then brought down a massive divine-intent-infused slash.
• Gu Yu used Thousand Kills’ Back-Blade Form to block the strike, but Pang Zhong shattered its blade shadow and hacked into Gu Yu’s back.

Gu Yu drew on the power of his Divine-Human Variant Bone and fought Pang Zhong with increasingly powerful blade techniques. He repeatedly clashed with Pang Zhong’s hurricane of blades, seeking an opening for a counterattack.

• Gu Yu activated the power stored in his Divine-Human Variant Bone, growing over thirty zhang tall and raising his qi and blood to match Pang Zhong’s.
• Gu Yu used Sudden Rain to drive Pang Zhong’s blade force across the arena, but Pang Zhong merged with his Dharma Aspect and shattered the blade rain.
• Pang Zhong launched a hurricane of blades, and Gu Yu answered with Burial Blade before striking repeatedly to halt the attack briefly.
• Pang Zhong’s hurricane resumed advancing, and Gu Yu’s final blade shadow shattered as his strength failed to suppress Pang Zhong’s true essence and qi and blood.
• Gu Yu unleashed the Sea-Turning Form, sending successive blade shadows against Pang Zhong’s hurricane in an attempt to expose an opening for a counterattack.

Gu Yu endured Pang Zhong’s Blade-Edge Hurricane and used the power of his Divine-Human Variant Bone to turn the fight against him. After shaking Pang Zhong’s resolve with a defiant challenge, Gu Yu unleashed his final move: the Blade Domain.

• Gu Yu kept using the Sea-Turning Form to stop Pang Zhong’s hurricane, suffering grievous wounds as Dongfang Yuejian and Master Xuanzhi warned that one mistake could kill him.
• Gu Yu drew on the divine power in his Divine-Human Variant Bone, strengthening his blade shadows until they pierced Pang Zhong’s Blade-Edge Hurricane and wounded him.
• Pang Zhong drove his hurricane forward and taunted Gu Yu, but Gu Yu declared that he had more reason to win and challenged Pang Zhong’s motives.
• Gu Yu proclaimed that he wanted to become a hero, slay the demon dragon, and see how far he could go on the path of cultivation.
• Gu Yu’s words shook Pang Zhong’s qi-blood true essence, and Gu Yu seized the opening by shouting, “Better shattered jade than intact tile!” and opening the Blade Domain.

Gu Yu defeated Pang Zhong in the Dragon-Slaying Assembly after unleashing the third layer of his Furious Lion Blade Domain, even as Pang Zhong used the Void Abyss Art. With Pang Zhong eliminated, Xu Taiping and his companions could obtain the Dragon-Slaying Token and proceed toward the Dragon Domain.

• Gu Yu revealed his blade domain and used Furious Lion's Roar to break apart Pang Zhong's hurricane of blades.
• The Heartless Demon Emperor urged Pang Zhong to use the Void Abyss Art, but Pang Zhong refused at first and rallied against Gu Yu.
• Gu Yu's blade domain transformed into a furious lion that swallowed Pang Zhong's attack, and Xiahou Qingyuan realized Gu Yu had likely comprehended its third layer.
• Pang Zhong unleashed the Void Abyss Art, but Gu Yu's blade domain overwhelmed him and blasted his ruined body out of the arena.
• The spectators celebrated Gu Yu's victory, and Duan Xiaoyu and Zhang Moyan looked forward to Xu Taiping's team obtaining the Dragon-Slaying Token and facing the demon dragon.

After Gu Yu won the Test the Blade Assembly, the Heartless Demon Emperor warned Xu Taiping that the Nine Abysses had sealed the route to Ten Thousand Islands Lake. Lu Feng and Qin Yun revealed that the Yan Kingdom was under attack and Dragon Gate Pass was besieged, leaving Xu Taiping facing a desperate choice about how to help.

• Jiang Xuanfeng declared Gu Yu the victor, and the spectators celebrated the human cultivators' success.
• The Heartless Demon Emperor warned Xu Taiping that the Nine Abysses would block his path to Ten Thousand Islands Lake and the Dragon Domain.
• Lu Feng arrived with two Dragon-Slaying Persons and the gravely wounded Qin Yun, who explained that a million-strong demonic army was invading the Yan Kingdom.
• Qin Yun showed Xu Taiping a Moonshadow Stone image of the Nine Abysses army besieging Dragon Gate Pass, the last passage to the Dragon Domain.
• Lu Feng explained that the Yan Kingdom had sent fifty thousand troops and gathered fifty thousand volunteers to attack the demonic army from behind, while Qin Yun warned that the kingdom was close to being slaughtered.

Xu Taiping agreed to command the Yan Kingdom's hundred thousand soldiers at Dragon Gate Pass, despite the danger that a failed charge would leave them doomed. While he prepared to strengthen himself before the battle, a voice from the Heaven-Flipping Seal Fragment announced that it had finished refining and was ready to be bound to him.

• Qin Yun asked Xu Taiping to lead the remaining Yan Kingdom troops to break the siege at Dragon Gate Pass, and Xu Taiping agreed on the condition that he could abandon the army if the charge failed.
• Qin Yun gave Xu Taiping a jade pendant to help him find Qin Yun and receive the Troop Command Tiger Tally, and urged him to arrive within five days.
• In the Spring Rain Pavilion, Zhu Huai and Jiang Cuicui warned that the hundred thousand troops would have little chance against the three hundred thousand Demonic Army soldiers unless they fully obeyed Xu Taiping's commands.
• Two days later, Dongfang Yuejian told Xu Taiping that Gu Yu was still healing and seemed to have made a breakthrough, so Xu Taiping decided to wait another half day.
• Xu Taiping considered releasing his cultivation-study clones and completing the Five Demon-Sealing Swords before facing the Demon Dragon, when the Heaven-Flipping Seal Fragment told him it was ready to be taken out, refined anew, and bound to him.

Xu Taiping began refining the incomplete Heaven-Flipping Seal as a Life-Bound Item, learning that the process would take decades or centuries but would gradually grant him its life-and-death powers. The artifact spirit explained the initial benefits, and Xu Taiping prepared to bind the seal to himself.

• Xu Taiping took the Heaven-Flipping Seal out of the Iron Gourd, shaking the Dragon-Trapping Tower, and reassured Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi that he was refining a treasure.
• The Heaven-Flipping Seal's artifact spirit told Xu Taiping to bind the incomplete seal as a Life-Bound Item by using Pan Tianyu's bloodline and infusing it with his True Essence, qi and blood, and Divine Soul Power.
• The artifact spirit estimated that refining the seal would take thirty to fifty years at the shortest and three hundred to five hundred years at the longest, with more time needed if Xu Taiping found and fused additional fragments.
• Xu Taiping promised to recover the seal's fragments and restore it, and the artifact spirit praised his cultivation and Dao Heart.
• The artifact spirit explained that Xu Taiping would first refine one-tenth of the seal and could choose to enhance either his magic power or killing power, with the benefit increasing as the refinement progressed.
• The artifact spirit said that after refining one-tenth, Xu Taiping could convert life power into slaughter power at the cost of magic power, or convert slaughter power back into life power.

Xu Taiping learned more about the Heaven-Flipping Seal’s life-and-death power and discovered that its former master, Ancient Heavenly Venerable, had been hiding within it. After Ancient Heavenly Venerable vanished, Xu Taiping began refining the seal, while the next day Gu Yu woke and feared something had gone wrong with Xu Taiping’s secluded cultivation.

• The Artifact Spirit explained that the Heaven-Flipping Seal could convert lifespan and vitality into killing power and, after Xu Taiping refined thirty percent of it, could use those powers on others as well.
• The Artifact Spirit urged Xu Taiping to hold fast to his true heart, then revealed that he was the seal’s former master, Ancient Heavenly Venerable, and that the true Artifact Spirit had died in his place.
• Ancient Heavenly Venerable warned Xu Taiping not to ask further about him, said that learning more would draw the heavens’ malice, and sent him instructions for refining the seal before concealing his aura and going dormant.
• Xu Taiping suspected Ancient Heavenly Venerable’s connection to Fairy Lingyue might be significant, then opened the divine soul mark and began refining the seal to prepare for the battle at Dragon Gate Pass.
• The next day, Gu Yu recovered in the Earth Vein Cave Abode, saw Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi standing by the trembling Dragon-Trapping Tower, and anxiously asked what had happened to Xu Taiping.

Xu Taiping emerged from the Dragon-Trapping Tower after removing all eight soul seals, leaving Dongfang Yuejian and the others amazed by his strengthened cultivation. As they prepared for the dangerous journey to Dragon Gate Pass, Dongfang Yuejian privately asked whether he had refined the legendary Heaven-Flipping Seal.

• Dongfang Yuejian warned Gu Yu that their forces had little chance against the demonic army at Dragon Gate Pass and told him not to urge Xu Taiping to attempt a rescue.
• A powerful aura erupted from the Dragon-Trapping Tower, shifting from primeval weight to vitality and then murderous cold, and Dongfang Yuejian suspected Xu Taiping was refining a legendary treasure.
• Xu Taiping emerged after refining one-tenth of the Heaven-Flipping Seal and forging the final five Demon-Sealing Swords through his Origin Beginning Clone.
• Xu Taiping revealed that all eight soul seals had been removed and explained that enduring them had strengthened his essence, blood, soul, and mastery beyond others at his realm.
• Dongfang Yuejian privately asked Xu Taiping whether the treasure he had refined was the legendary Heaven-Flipping Seal.