Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping entered Jade Gourd Peak’s Cauldron Seizing Contest carrying the largest stone cauldron, intending to fulfill Recluse Sansan’s request to cut down plum trees. As he climbed through the Sword Qi and Gang Wind, he began felling a plum tree, shocking Zhao Linglong and the others watching through the Spirit Mirror.

• Qingxiao and Xu Ziyan suspected Xu Taiping might be pursuing the Flood Dragon Token, and Zhao Linglong warned him not to act rashly.
• Duan Xiaoyu thanked Xu Taiping before leaving, wished him success at the summit, and accidentally broke a tree when she ran into it.
• Xu Taiping reached Plum Valley Path and decided to cut down its plum trees to fulfill Recluse Sansan’s request.
• Xu Taiping chose the largest stone cauldron and carried it toward the mountain path with one hand.
• Xu Taiping withstood the Gang Wind near the seventh step, drew Spring Tiger, and struck the plum tree beside the path.

Xu Taiping tried to fell plum trees along the path through the Immortal Gourd Grotto-Heaven, drawing alarmed attention from Liu Chuxuan, Huang Que, and the Azure Profound Sect disciples watching him. As stronger sword-qi gusts battered him on the eleventh step, the Rusty Lion Sword suddenly flew from its sheath to defend him.

• Liu Chuxuan and Huang Que watched Xu Taiping fell and store a plum tree, then worried when he went after another.
• Zhao Linglong, Qingxiao, and Xu Ziyan discussed whether Xu Taiping could keep chopping trees, while Lin Buyu watched in silence.
• A blast of sword gang knocked Xu Taiping's saber aside as he swung at a third plum tree.
• On the eleventh step, Xu Taiping cleaved through sword-qi gusts, but the backlash shattered his Profound Ice Armor and forced him backward.
• As more sword-qi gusts bore down on Xu Taiping, the Rusty Lion Sword flew from its sheath and positioned itself in front of him.

Xu Taiping used Rusty Lion Sword to turn the descending sword qi into written characters, then used the method to withstand the sword qi waterfall on the ninety-ninth step. When he realized the mountain’s sword intent would attack him if he broke its flow, Huang Que recognized that Xu Taiping’s characters might be copying the sword intent itself.

• Xu Taiping guided Rusty Lion Sword to write characters with the descending sword qi, trapping the attacks as the characters “left” and “right.”
• Liu Chuxuan explained that Xu Taiping’s swordsmanship used the strokes of characters to contain sword qi, and he concluded that both Xu Taiping and his teacher were formidable.
• Xu Taiping reached the ninety-ninth step, where a waterfall of sword qi overwhelmed a sword cultivator ahead of him.
• Xu Taiping formed walls of characters that followed the mountain’s sword intent, calming the sword qi until he tried to leave the path, when it attacked him again.
• Xu Taiping realized he had to follow the mountain’s sword intent to advance, but doing so would prevent him from cutting down the roadside plum tree.
• Huang Que suggested that Xu Taiping’s characters copied the sword intent of the Plum Garden Path, prompting Liu Chuxuan to sit upright in surprise.

Xu Taiping used the character-based sword techniques taught by Recluse Sansan to withstand the mountain’s Sword Intent and gradually understand how the method could counter and deliver sword attacks. After cutting down every plum tree on the path, he reached the landing before the summit’s final steps, bloodied but determined to continue.

• Liu Chuxuan told Huang Que to investigate who had taught Xu Taiping his swordsmanship.
• Xu Taiping resisted the Sword Intent by writing characters with Rusty Lion, then used brief openings to cut down plum trees and store them in his Gourd.
• After breaking apart successive Sword Qi attacks, Xu Taiping realized he could treat sword moves as written characters, dismantle their strokes, and shape his own attacks through writing.
• Xu Taiping continued uphill while cutting down the plum trees, determined to gather enough for Recluse Sansan.
• Two hours later, Xu Taiping stood bloodied before the final flight of steps, carrying the Stone Cauldron and saber with a Flying Sword hovering nearby; the path behind him was bare.
• Huang Que asked Liu Chuxuan whether Xu Taiping or his sword techniques were more formidable.

Xu Taiping reached Jade Gourd Peak’s final sword trial and used Rusty Lion to break the Great Sword Immortal’s strike, leaving a scar on the Jade Gourd Grotto-Heaven’s barrier. At the foot of the peak, Ye Xuan agreed to become the white-clad young man’s disciple and was ordered to defeat Xu Taiping, as a powerful voice called for Su Chan.

• Liu Chuxuan warned Huang Que that the final path’s Sword Intent combined the mountain’s force into a strike equivalent to one from the Great Sword Immortal, but they could not interfere.
• Xu Taiping climbed the final steps, endured the Sword Intent, and saw a sword formed from daylight and clouds descend toward him.
• Xu Taiping resonated with Rusty Lion and recited Recluse Sansan’s poem, which became a sword strike that split the descending sword.
• Rusty Lion pierced the clouds and struck the Jade Gourd Grotto-Heaven’s barrier, leaving a sword scar and shaking the grotto-heaven.
• The white-clad young man accepted Ye Xuan as his disciple on the condition that he defeat Xu Taiping at the next Sword Inquiry Qingxuan Grand Competition, threatening to send him to the Nine Abysses if he lost.
• An aged voice swept across the Immortal Gourd Grotto-Heaven and called for Su Chan to come out.

Xu Taiping reached the summit of Jade Gourd Peak after revealing a powerful sword strike, and Lay Buddhist Yuqing appeared to reward the disciples and purge the grotto-heaven. Yuqing trapped a mysterious swordsman in a formation, whose overwhelming sword intent left Xu Taiping wondering who they were.

• Xu Taiping placed the stone cauldron on the summit platform, drank Dragon Gall Wine, and received congratulations for his sword strike, including from Xiao Ye.
• The stone platform activated, and Lay Buddhist Yuqing's Dharma body appeared, thanked the disciples, and said he would clean out Jade Gourd Grotto-Heaven before giving them their rewards.
• Yuqing struck a forest to dust, drawing a sword attack from a hidden opponent that shattered his talisman shield.
• Yuqing summoned nine stone pillars to trap the swordsman in a formation, but the prison was pierced by the opponent's sword qi.
• Xu Taiping felt the swordsman's terrifying sword intent and wondered who the person was.

Xu Taiping learned that Su Chan was the target of Lay Buddhist Yuqing’s trap as the two fought across the Immortal Gourd Grotto-Heaven. Lay Buddhist Yuqing drew Heavenly Shadow and struck down Su Chan’s sword light, but Su Chan transformed into a vast black tree that began devouring the grotto-heaven’s spiritual energy.

• Lay Buddhist Yuqing revealed that he had trapped Su Chan and expanded the Formation Prison to the foot of Jade Gourd Peak.
• Su Chan broke through the Formation Prison with black Sword Qi, shattering its outer stone pillars and sending a slash toward Jade Gourd Peak that the peak’s hidden sword intent deflected.
• Lay Buddhist Yuqing summoned seven flying swords, but Su Chan’s sword intent darkened the sky and swept them aside.
• Lay Buddhist Yuqing drew Heavenly Shadow from beneath the stone platform on Jade Gourd Peak and used it to split Su Chan’s black sword light and dispel the darkness.
• Lay Buddhist Yuqing struck Su Chan again, scorching the mountainside, but Su Chan grew from a pillar of black smoke into a towering tree that devoured nearby spiritual energy.
• Xiao Ye identified Su Chan’s transformation as the Demon God Weapon Taotie.

Xu Taiping learned that Lay Buddhist Yuqing had died after mortally wounding Su Chan and sealing the Demon God Weapon Taotie, preventing Nine Nether from threatening the Nine Prefectures for at least sixty years. After Huang Que explained Yuqing’s plan and his use of the Immortal Gourd Grotto-Heaven, he told Xu Taiping that Senior A Meng was waiting for him at the White Steed Inn.

• Lay Buddhist Yuqing struck with the Heavenly Shadow Sword, but the exchange with Su Chan knocked Xu Taiping and the other cultivators unconscious.
• Xu Taiping woke two days later, and Huang Que told him that Su Chan had won while Lay Buddhist Yuqing had died after his lifespan ran out.
• Huang Que explained that Yuqing had secretly lured Su Chan into the Immortal Gourd Grotto-Heaven, gravely wounded him, and sealed the Demon God Weapon Taotie for at least sixty years.
• Huang Que explained that the young disciples carrying cauldrons had enabled Yuqing to briefly wield the grotto-heaven’s power.
• Huang Que told Xu Taiping that Senior A Meng was waiting for him in Heaven-Character Room Number One.

After returning from the Nine Prefectures, Xu Taiping received a Flood Dragon Token from A Meng and learned it could help purify his spiritual energy in the Wilderness Ancient Ruins. He returned to Cloud Cottage Mountain, where Ping'an told him that Bai Yu had gone to kill the Peacock King and had not returned.

• A Meng questioned Xu Taiping about the crypt and his swordsmanship, then gave him a Flood Dragon Token and warned him about dangers in the Wilderness Ancient Ruins.
• Huang Que explained that cultivators from other realms could appear in the ruins, gave Xu Taiping a Nine Prefectures Wanderer Token, and told him to bind the Flood Dragon Token with blood within seven days.
• Xu Taiping returned to Moon Perching Pavilion at the Azure Profound Sect after being away for over half a month.
• Ping'an welcomed Xu Taiping back and nervously revealed that Bai Yu had gone to kill the Peacock King and had not returned for days.

Xu Taiping returned to Moon Perching Pavilion and learned that Bai Yu was hiding near the imprisoned Peacock King, whose planned transfer might be a trap for White Rainbow. He agreed with Fairy Lingyue to stay back and intervene at the decisive moment, while awaiting the Bamboo Fruits’ ripening and greeting his senior siblings.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that Bai Yu was safe and that the Immortal Law Bureau planned to move the Peacock King within three days, when the Peacock Demon clan might attempt a prison break.
• Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue suspected the Sect Master had arranged the Peacock King’s transfer to lure White Rainbow into a trap as he neared the Demon Venerable Realm.
• Fairy Lingyue advised Xu Taiping to watch from behind and help Bai Yu and White Rainbow only at a critical moment, and Xu Taiping agreed.
• Fairy Lingyue said the two Bamboo Fruits should ripen by the following night and produce a Spirit Weapon or, at worst, Spirit Treasure-grade armor.
• Zhao Linglong, Qingxiao, the Eldest Senior Sister, and other senior siblings arrived at Moon Perching Pavilion, and Xu Taiping went to welcome them.

Xu Taiping reunited with his senior brothers and sisters, then told Fairy Lingyue about the events in the Immortal Gourd Grotto-Heaven. Fairy Lingyue identified the Flood Dragon Token as Chaos Stone, explaining its use in the Wilderness Ancient Ruins, and reassured Xu Taiping that Quenching Fire Pills would address the mixed spiritual energy in his body.

• Jiang Zhi explained that Qingxiao and Ziyan would enter the Wilderness for a trial, and the Seven Peaks gathered at Xu Taiping's Moon Perching Pavilion to celebrate.
• After everyone left, Xu Taiping talked with Fairy Lingyue and recounted what had happened in the Immortal Gourd Grotto-Heaven, including the Sword Inquiry between Su Chan and Lay Buddhist Yuqing.
• Fairy Lingyue examined Xu Taiping's Flood Dragon Token and recognized it as Chaos Stone, which could help travelers navigate places filled with Chaos Qi.
• Fairy Lingyue said the Wilderness Ancient Ruins offered Xu Taiping a rare trial opportunity and confirmed that Quenching Fire Pills would address the problems caused by the mixed spiritual energy in his body.

Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue prepared to suppress the Demon Lotus and discussed how to protect themselves from the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon. When the Earth Fruit ripened, the bamboo they cut stabilized Fairy Lingyue’s divine soul and gave her a way to wield much of her power through Bamboo Puppets.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that he could use the ancient ruins’ chaotic energy to form a defense against the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon after reaching the Mystic Understanding Realm.
• Xu Taiping began refining a Demon-Removing Pill to suppress the Demon Lotus growing inside him.
• Fairy Lingyue advised Xu Taiping that he could use an Iron Gourd as a flying treasure, but he refused to use any sword after promising Recluse Sansan.
• Xu Taiping cut down the bamboo Fairy Lingyue had chosen, and its spiritual power made her divine soul fully stable and restored her divine essence to about a tenth of its peak strength.
• Fairy Lingyue warned that possessing Xu Taiping would strain his body, then fashioned three Bamboo Puppets that could let her wield eighty or ninety percent of her current strength.

Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue discovered that the Earth Fruit had produced the damaged Shentu Bow and three powerful arrows instead of a flying sword. After learning how to restore the bow, they were interrupted when someone discovered Bai Yu.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that the Bamboo Puppets could each be used only once, and he assured her he could rely on them in a crisis.
• Xu Taiping broke open the second bamboo stalk and received a bow called Shentu and three arrows: Wind Earl, Thunder Master, and Fire Virtue.
• Xu Taiping learned that the Shentu Bow was a damaged Divine Weapon whose power could be restored by finding its original materials and growing it again in the Earth Fruit.
• Fairy Lingyue urged Xu Taiping to gather materials for the bow while he planned to refine Qi-Gathering Pills before performing Seed Burning.
• Fairy Lingyue sensed that someone had discovered Bai Yu and told Xu Taiping to bring the Shentu Bow and hurry over.

Bai Yu revealed its three-year plan to use the Peacock King Remnants to distract the Azure Profound Sect while it tried to assassinate the imprisoned Peacock King. Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue watched from nearby as the Peacock Demons gathered, uncertain whether the plan would succeed.

• Elder Song searched the forest for the source of killing intent but found no one and called the disciples back.
• Bai Yu sent the Peacock King Remnants a message claiming it had found the imprisoned Great King at Weary Bird Manor and urging them to gather for a rescue.
• Bai Yu revealed it had spent years building the Peacock King Remnants into a force, intending to use their prison break as a distraction while it infiltrated Weary Bird Manor to assassinate the Peacock King.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that she had concealed Bai Yu with a Bamboo Leaf, and they discussed whether the interception plan could work.
• A powerful aura passed over Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue, who identified the approaching beings as Peacock Demons and chose to observe.

Bai Yu infiltrated Weary Bird Manor to kill the imprisoned Peacock King, but Elder Song and Gu Cheng revealed they had prepared a trap. Trapped inside the Demon-Slaying Platform, Bai Yu protected himself with Feather Cage and threatened to kill both himself and the Peacock King, leaving negotiations at a standstill.

• Bai Yu disguised himself as a Peacock Demon and reached the Peacock King on the Demon-Slaying Platform while the manor fought off an attack.
• Bai Yu tried to kill the Peacock King, but the platform’s formation activated and the Peacock King’s golden protection blocked his first strike.
• Bai Yu used Spirit-Slaying Blood Claw to pierce the protection, tore flesh and a wing from the bound Peacock King, and called out Elder Song’s betrayal.
• Elder Song and Gu Cheng appeared, explaining they had hoped to capture Bai Yu’s father and could use Bai Yu and the Peacock King as bargaining chips.
• Gu Cheng attacked, but Bai Yu’s Feather Cage blocked his saber as Bai Yu continued injuring the Peacock King and threatened to kill them both.
• Elder Song and Gu Cheng offered to negotiate and suggested Bai Yu and White Rainbow might return to the Azure Profound Sect, but Bai Yu rejected the offer.

Bai Yu tried to kill the Peacock King so his father would have no weakness preventing him from avenging their clan, but Jin Yue stopped him. Several mysterious allies rescued Bai Yu and helped him kill the Peacock King before Sect Master Zhou Tong arrived.

• Bai Yu told Gu Cheng that he wanted his father to avenge the White-Headed Eagle Clan and his mother, even if that meant killing everyone in the Azure Profound Sect.
• Jin Yue arrived, used the Azure Nether Sword to break Bai Yu’s feather cage, and tried to take him to the Seven Discipline Hall.
• Fairy Lingyue warned Bai Yu, and a lightning strike blasted Jin Yue away as blade shadows struck Gu Cheng and Elder Song.
• A bamboo-strip figure killed Gu Cheng and urged Bai Yu to act, while an arrow knocked Elder Song away.
• Bai Yu tore the Peacock King apart, and Sect Master Zhou Tong descended in a streak of sword light.

Xu Taiping rescued Bai Yu from the battle, then escaped after Fairy Lingyue destroyed the Bamboo Puppet to repel Peak Lord Jin Yue's sword. Later, White Rainbow asked Ninth Uncle for permission to kill Zhou Tong, and Ninth Uncle said someone from the Seventh Peak would challenge him at the next Seven Peaks Grand Competition.

• Xu Taiping pulled Bai Yu into his gourd and stopped him from sacrificing himself, reminding him that White Rainbow was his only family.
• Xu Taiping blocked Peak Lord Jin Yue's sword with Cloud-Piercing and escaped using Endless Horizon as Fairy Lingyue shattered the Bamboo Puppet to knock the flying sword back.
• White Rainbow met Ninth Uncle at the Demon-Slaying Platform and declared that he wanted to kill Zhou Tong for his crimes and his family's deaths.
• Ninth Uncle promised to arrange a Sword Inquiry against Zhou Tong at the next Seven Peaks Grand Competition, which would cost Zhou Tong his position and place in Qingxuan if he lost.
• White Rainbow worried that Ninth Uncle meant for Xu Taiping to challenge Zhou Tong, but Ninth Uncle said the chosen person was indeed on the Seventh Peak.

White Rainbow questioned Ninth Uncle about surviving his wounds at the Northern Border, but Ninth Uncle dismissed his suspicions with a joke. Later, drunk Lü Sword Nine descended into the Nether Profound Grotto to share wine with his Senior Brother, entering the blood-filled cavern where nine coffins and a huge Bronze Gate stood.

• White Rainbow asked Ninth Uncle why he had survived the wounds he suffered at the Northern Border, and Ninth Uncle teased him for believing whatever he heard.
• Lü Sword Nine drunkenly wandered down the underground stairs at Forget-Me-Not Peak and decided to visit his Senior Brother with the wine he had left.
• Lü Sword Nine's flying sword, Youngest, reacted to the entrance, but Lü Sword Nine told it he did not need its protection.
• Lü Sword Nine approached the iron ball sealing the Nether Profound Grotto and spoke with his Senior Brother, who allowed him to enter.
• Lü Sword Nine crossed the blood-red cavern and saw nine coffins, immense iron balls, and a huge Bronze Gate.

Lü Sword Nine visited the corpses and spoke with Zhou Ang, his senior brother, who guarded the Bronze Gate and was slowly losing his memories. More than ten days later, Lin Buyu dreamed of Senior Sister Ziyan in a snowy ruin, and Lin Buyan identified the place as Cloud Whale, the ancient Snow Capital.

• Lü Sword Nine saw that one corpse resembled Ninth Uncle, and the corpse asked whether Xu Taiping had begun practicing the sword.
• Lü Sword Nine brought wine to Zhou Ang at the Bronze Gate and learned that the threat beyond it was growing while Zhou Ang's memories faded.
• Zhou Ang told Lü Sword Nine to return after settling his affairs, and Lü Sword Nine promised to come relieve him.
• Lin Buyu awoke from a vivid nightmare in which Senior Sister Ziyan appeared bloodied among snowy ruins and blue flowers.
• Lin Buyan identified the dream setting as Cloud Whale, the Imperial Capital of the Thousand Buddhas Kingdom, also called Snow Capital.

Lin Buyu worried that her dream foretold danger for Xu Ziyan’s trial in Cloud Whale City, while Xu Taiping reviewed his cultivation and the Demon Lotus’s condition with Fairy Lingyue. The chapter ended with Xu Taiping checking on a batch of Grass Return Pills nearing completion.

• Lin Buyu learned that Xu Ziyan and Dugu Qingxiao had chosen Cloud Whale City in the Thousand Buddhas Kingdom for their trial, the same place she had dreamed about, and asked Xu Ziyan not to go.
• Lin Buyu considered lending Xu Ziyan her Jade Bracelet but refused after Lin Buyan suggested it.
• Blade Ghost judged Xu Taiping’s Crane Cry technique inadequate, and Xu Taiping said it needed deadly battles against many opponents to reach the state of no blade and no self.
• Fairy Lingyue examined the Demon Lotus and explained that it was still growing because of power absorbed by the Ghost-Sealing Talisman, but should wither once that power ran out.
• Fairy Lingyue said the Ghost-Sealing Talisman’s problem should resolve when Xu Taiping reached the Mystic Understanding Realm, then Xu Taiping went to check on his Grass Return Pills.