Chapter Summaries

At Star-Plucking Terrace, three peak Mystic Understanding Realm cultivators tried to force the tower’s defender to reveal Dugu Qingxiao’s whereabouts by activating a painting containing the Demon-Breaking Sword’s sword intent. Fairy Lingyue prepared to counter it with the Shentu Bow while Xu Taiping went below to begin his breakthrough.

• Shang Jiu stopped Demoness Su Su from going to investigate and told her to watch the battle with Xiao Yuan.
• Zhu Chen, Yun Zhong, and Ouyang Xuan offered rewards for Dugu Qingxiao’s whereabouts, then agreed to break Star-Plucking Terrace’s North Wind Formation when nobody answered.
• Ouyang Xuan revealed a painting containing a wisp of the True Martial Great Emperor’s Demon-Breaking Sword intent, and the three cultivators poured their true essence into it.
• Fairy Lingyue took Xu Taiping’s Shentu Bow and Arrow Case, then sent him to make his breakthrough while she prepared to face the sword intent.
• The sword light extended from the painting, and the Shentu Bow began to blaze as Fairy Lingyue drew it and nocked an arrow.

Ouyang Xuan, Zhu Chen, and Yun Zhong joined forces to strengthen the Divine Sword Diagram’s attack on the North Wind Formation, while Shang Jiu secretly boosted their power. Fairy Lingyue detected Shang Jiu and Demoness Su Su’s interference and prepared to shoot at them.

• Ouyang Xuan’s first Demon-Breaking Sword strike was pierced by an arrow from the North Wind Formation, and the resulting gale drove back nearby cultivators.
• Ouyang Xuan told Zhu Chen and Yun Zhong that a treasure had stopped the strike, then persuaded them to join him in another attack without holding back.
• Shang Jiu secretly sent a blue snowflake onto the Divine Sword Diagram, multiplying the power of the three cultivators’ sword strike.
• Fairy Lingyue used the Shentu Bow to locate Shang Jiu and Demoness Su Su, then nocked the Fire Virtue and Thunder Master arrows to greet them.

Fairy Lingyue used the Shentu Bow to wound Shang Jiu and drive him toward the Star-Plucking Terrace, while Xu Taiping began his breakthrough to the Mystic Understanding Realm underground. Ping'an and Bai Yu guarded the breach in the North Wind Formation as Ouyang Xuan's cultivators prepared to strike it again.

• Fairy Lingyue shot the Demon-Breaking Sword's Sword Light with Thunder Master and broke a hole in the North Wind Formation.
• Fairy Lingyue sent Fire Virtue at Shang Jiu, whose Protective Gang Qi shattered before the flames engulfed him and sent him flying.
• The Little Girl with Pigtails ran to Shang Jiu, who appeared unhurt, captured Demoness Su Su, and headed for the Star-Plucking Terrace.
• Xu Taiping recalled his encounter with the Yin God, swallowed the Quenching Fire Pill, and began forming his Cinnabar Heart.
• Ping'an and Bai Yu held the formation's breach against Ouyang Xuan and the other cultivators, who urged him to strike the formation again.

Ouyang Xuan and the other cultivators broke open the North Wind Formation around Star-Plucking Terrace, but Dragon-Winged Birds and hordes of savage beasts attacked before they could enter. Yun Zhong, Zhu Chen, and Ouyang Xuan fled, leaving the remaining cultivators scattered across the snowfield.

• Ouyang Xuan agreed to activate the Divine Sword Diagram again, while Zhu Chen, Yun Zhong, and the other cultivators supplied True Essence to extend its sword light three feet.
• Fairy Lingyue heard a savage beast roar and realized the cultivators' breakthrough aura had attracted the beasts, but she chose not to waste another Bamboo Puppet stopping Ouyang Xuan.
• Ouyang Xuan's Demon-Breaking Sword slashed a huge opening in the North Wind Formation, but a flock of Dragon-Winged Birds attacked the cultivators before they could enter Star-Plucking Terrace.
• The cultivators killed several Dragon-Winged Birds and drove off the flock, then saw savage beasts charging toward them from every direction.
• Yun Zhong fled across an unoccupied stretch of snowfield, and Zhu Chen and Ouyang Xuan followed, leaving the remaining cultivators to scatter as savage beasts surrounded Star-Plucking Terrace.

Xu Taiping broke through to the Mystic Understanding Realm and saw several terrifying visions during his spirit journey beyond the heavens, including a conflict at Heavenly Sound Hall. When he returned to the stone chamber, an Otherworldly Heavenly Demon seized him, but an enormous hand appeared behind it.

• The savage beasts retreated from the Star-Plucking Terrace, and Shang Jiu, Demoness Su Su, and the little girl with horn-shaped pigtails approached.
• Xu Taiping's divine sense entered his Dantian, where he saw that his cinnabar heart resembled a mountain, and then traveled beyond his body as he broke through to the Mystic Understanding Realm.
• Xu Taiping witnessed a red-armored man die on a battlefield and an old man enter a demon grotto through a Bronze Gate.
• Xu Taiping saw Chen Hao guard Heavenly Sound Hall against cultivators seeking Dugu Qingxiao and realized he needed to hurry there.
• A sinister wind ended Xu Taiping's spirit journey, and an Otherworldly Heavenly Demon seized his neck as a huge hand appeared behind it.

Xu Taiping watched the strange hand battle the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon and swallow him. Before leaving, the hand touched Xu Taiping’s left eye and gave him a mysterious thank-you gift.

• Xu Taiping nearly gave in to the strange hand’s influence, but the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon bit his neck and broke his trance.
• The strange hand seized the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon, who escaped and used an ancient book to bind it with chains and attack it with golden flames.
• The hand corroded the chains and flames, then rotted the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon’s hand and sword despite his attempts to restore himself with a jade bottle.
• The strange hand pulled mist from the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon, corroded his body, and swallowed his remaining demonic shadow.
• The strange hand touched Xu Taiping’s left eye and told him it was a thank-you gift, inviting him to come again.

After breaking through to the Mystic Understanding Realm, Xu Taiping gained a second pupil whose power caused him severe pain, while his body and abilities grew much stronger. He emerged from the stone chamber to find Ping'an and Bai Yu under attack by Demoness Su Su and a young man, and Fairy Lingyue told him not to intervene.

• A strange hand gave Xu Taiping a second pupil, but looking through it brought such intense pain that he covered his left eye.
• Xu Taiping examined his breakthrough and discovered his body, true essence, golden flame fire, and Clone Technique had all grown substantially stronger.
• After hearing the stone chamber shake, Xu Taiping went outside and found Ping'an badly wounded while defending the entrance and Bai Yu suppressed by a young man.
• Demoness Su Su summoned four hairy jiangshi corpse puppets to join her Corpse-Soul Puppet in attacking Ping'an.
• As Xu Taiping prepared to act, Fairy Lingyue told him not to intervene.

Xu Taiping watched as Ping'an fought Demoness Su Su’s Corpse Puppets, while Fairy Lingyue insisted that he let the Spirit Beast temper himself. When Su Su threatened Xu Taiping, Ping'an awakened the full power of the Ape Demon Art and defended the stone chamber, but his life force began to fade, prompting Xu Taiping to intervene.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that Ping'an needed to face the danger himself and warned him not to interfere.
• Demoness Su Su’s Corpse Puppets pinned Ping'an down with Soul-Locking Nails, then Su Su headed for the stone chamber while Bai Yu warned that Xu Taiping was breaking through inside.
• Fearing Xu Taiping would die, Ping'an broke free, destroyed three Hairy Jiangshi, and unleashed the Ape Demon Art against Su Su.
• Ping'an repeatedly blocked Su Su’s Corpse-Soul Puppet from reaching the chamber, despite suffering severe wounds and rapidly losing vitality.
• Xu Taiping told Fairy Lingyue that he could no longer stand by and watch.

Xu Taiping returned to the battle, rescued Little Taiping from Su Su’s Corpse-Soul Puppet, and defeated Su Su’s defenses. He then struck Shang Jiu with the Azure Ox Great Sage Fist and sent him crashing into a ruined wall.

• Su Su severed Little Taiping’s Achilles tendon and ordered her Corpse-Soul Puppet to cut off his head.
• Bai Yu tried to break through Shang Jiu’s blade qi to save Taiping, but Shang Jiu knocked him away.
• Xu Taiping emerged from the Stone Chamber and used the Demon-Slaying Blade’s Crane Cry Form to overwhelm the Corpse-Soul Puppet and sever its head.
• Xu Taiping blocked Su Su’s Sword Qi Talisman with a clone, then struck her and attacked her with Cicada Cry.
• Shang Jiu shielded Su Su and broke Xu Taiping’s Cicada Cry with his blood-colored saber.
• Xu Taiping shattered Shang Jiu’s flaming blade qi with All Beings Are Equal and punched him into a ruined wall.

Xu Taiping fought Shang Jiu on the Star-Plucking Terrace while the Thousand Buddha Kingdom’s All Beings Are Equal suppressed Shang Jiu’s cultivation. After Fairy Lingyue directed him to a nearby wormhole, Xu Taiping escaped Shang Jiu’s lethal strike by jumping into a well, where darkness swallowed him.

• Xu Taiping sent Shang Jiu flying, then drew Ping'an and Bai Yu into the Gourd so they could recover while Fairy Lingyue checked their injuries.
• Xu Taiping and Shang Jiu exchanged attacks as All Beings Are Equal suppressed Shang Jiu to Xu Taiping’s realm, and Xu Taiping broke through Shang Jiu’s blade techniques with his fists.
• Shang Jiu identified himself as the former sect master of the Heavenly Blade Sect and guessed that Duan Tianya had taught Xu Taiping his blade techniques, but Xu Taiping denied knowing what he meant.
• Shang Jiu changed to a blade technique that pinned Xu Taiping in place, and Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping to jump into the well behind him.
• Xu Taiping threw Uncle White Rainbow’s feather to block Shang Jiu’s slash, then used Endless Horizon to leap into the wormhole in the well as Shang Jiu’s blade qi pursued him.

Xu Taiping escaped through a Wormhole to the ruins of Yichan Temple and hurried toward Heavenly Sound Hall after visions suggested Chen Hao was in danger. He learned that saving his Second Senior Brother Dugu Qingxiao might require the Thousand Buddha Kingdom’s Evil-Delivering Asura precept.

• Xu Taiping emerged from the well at Yichan Temple and learned from Fairy Lingyue that Shang Jiu could not reopen the Wormhole for twelve hours.
• Xu Taiping raced toward Heavenly Sound Hall, recounted his visions beyond the heavens, and told Fairy Lingyue that the Yin God had given him Double Pupils.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that Xu Taiping’s Double Pupils would have limited power and that using them would consume as much Dragon Gall Stone as thirty flasks of Dragon Gall Wine.
• Xu Taiping asked how to save Dugu Qingxiao from a Bodhi Seed, and Fairy Lingyue said he would need to keep his senior brother alive for three months.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping about Evil-Delivering Asura, a precept through which someone who bore another’s malice could make a wish to Ancient Buddha Kasyapa.

Xu Taiping resolved to bear the cultivators’ malice to protect Second Senior Brother Qingxiao and seek a wish from Ancient Buddha Kasyapa. He reached Heavenly Sound Hall and found Chen Hao defending the entrance, where Elder Nie Chen confronted him.

• Xu Taiping asked Fairy Lingyue how to make a wish to Ancient Buddha Kasyapa and decided to activate the Duedu Asura precept to protect Qingxiao.
• Fairy Lingyue warned Xu Taiping that the precept would draw every Bodhi Fruit seeker’s malice and prevent her from intervening, then taught him how to activate it.
• Xu Taiping gave Fairy Lingyue the Shentu Bow and rushed toward Heavenly Sound Hall, intending to kill as many attackers as possible before becoming the Duedu Asura.
• Chen Hao of the Pure Yang Sword Sect defended Heavenly Sound Hall, driving back cultivators who tried to enter despite his severe injuries.
• Elder Nie Chen of Yellow Maple Valley arrived, suppressed Chen Hao with his Spirit Refining Realm power, and demanded that he stop slaughtering people.
• Chen Hao told Elder Nie that he would not let anyone enter while Qingxiao remained alive.

Nie Chen overpowered Chen Hao outside Heavenly Sound Hall and demanded that he lead him to Dugu Qingxiao. As Nie Chen was about to kill Chen Hao, a burst of violent fire pressure struck the clearing, and a point of fire appeared in the sky.

• Nie Chen confronted Chen Hao and warned him to take him to Dugu Qingxiao, but Chen Hao refused and insulted him.
• Nie Chen attacked with ice spikes, wounded Chen Hao, and trapped him after Chen Hao’s sword failed to break through his ice defenses.
• Nie Chen demanded again that Chen Hao lead him to Dugu Qingxiao, but Chen Hao spat at him instead.
• Nie Chen began forcing the ice spikes through Chen Hao’s protective sword gang, while the watching cultivators cheered and prepared to enter Heavenly Sound Hall.
• A wave of pressure carrying violent fire origin slammed into the clearing, and Nie Chen scattered it before a dazzling point of fire lit up in the sky.

Xu Taiping rescued the gravely wounded Chen Hao from Nie Chen and Shang Jiu, then escaped into the Wormhole inside Heavenly Sound Hall. The Wormhole closed behind them, leaving Nie Chen and Shang Jiu outside as the cultivators learned the masked rescuer could suppress an opponent’s cultivation.

• Xu Taiping used All Beings Are Equal and the Wind Earl Arrow to defeat Nie Chen, then pursued him with a barrage of punches.
• Shang Jiu arrived with a little girl and a young woman, but a lightning arrow knocked him back as Xu Taiping finished Nie Chen and reached Chen Hao.
• Xu Taiping carried Chen Hao into Heavenly Sound Hall and entered the Wormhole before Shang Jiu and Nie Chen could catch him.
• Nie Chen tried to follow, but a gigantic arm struck him back as the Wormhole closed for twelve hours.
• Shang Jiu identified himself and told Nie Chen that Xu Taiping possessed a treasure that reduced another person’s cultivation to his own level.

Shang Jiu recruited cultivators to help him confront Xu Taiping, while Xu Taiping reached the Lotus Dao Field with Chen Hao and learned that his Second Senior Brother Qingxiao had been corrupted by the Bodhi Fruit. Chen Hao gave Xu Taiping Qingxiao’s blood letter, which contained the jade bracelets Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu had found at Listening Wind Tower.

• Shang Jiu told Nie Chen that Xu Taiping’s treasure could suppress cultivation and proposed gathering cultivators to overwhelm him, while claiming he wanted only one Bodhi Fruit.
• Nie Chen sent his fellow disciples to gather cultivators in the Thousand Buddha Kingdom.
• Xu Taiping and Chen Hao emerged from the Wormhole onto an island in the Lotus Dao Field, where Fairy Lingyue sensed a cultivator resembling Xu Taiping’s Second Senior Brother in the temple.
• Chen Hao told Xu Taiping that Huang Que had concealed his involvement and that Qingxiao had become unable to communicate after the Bodhi Fruit eroded his mind.
• Chen Hao said Qingxiao briefly regained clarity, wrote Xu Taiping a blood letter, and asked that he not get involved.
• Xu Taiping opened the blood letter and found inside the jade bracelets he and Lin Buyu had obtained at Listening Wind Tower.

Xu Taiping learned from Qingxiao’s letter that his senior brother believed his death could save Xu Ziyan, then chose to guard Lotus Temple and prepare to face the cultivators coming for them. When Shang Jiu led 132 cultivators into Lotus Grotto-Heaven, Xu Taiping unleashed All Beings Are Equal as they attacked.

• Xu Taiping read Qingxiao’s letter warning him to return to Qingxuan, avoid the next Seven Peaks Grand Competition, and not try to save him because Xu Ziyan could live only if Qingxiao died.
• Xu Taiping and Chen Hao reasoned that Xu Ziyan might still be alive, and Xu Taiping asked Chen Hao to guard Lotus Temple while he stopped hostile cultivators.
• Xu Taiping tested exchanging his sealed fist techniques for All Beings Are Equal and learned from Fairy Lingyue that sealing his divine sense could prolong the power at great risk.
• Twelve hours later, Shang Jiu and Nie Chen assembled 132 cultivators in Heavenly Sound Hall and led them through a wormhole into Lotus Grotto-Heaven.
• Shang Jiu attacked Xu Taiping as he recited Buddhist scriptures, but Xu Taiping finished his recitation and summoned an eight-armed asura as the lake turned blood-red.

Xu Taiping used Duedu Asura’s precept to suppress the attacking cultivators’ power and fought them with help from divine general Zheng Wen. After killing two Yellow Maple Valley disciples, he saw their azure qi form halos around the Rakshasa phantom and wondered whether it was being entangled by evil thoughts.

• Shang Jiu attacked Xu Taiping, but Zheng Wen appeared from the Taixuan Divine Generals Picture and blocked the slash.
• Xu Taiping invoked All Beings Are Equal, suppressing the cultivators’ power, and ordered Zheng Wen to fight Shang Jiu.
• Nie Chen attacked Xu Taiping, who used Cicada Cry to wound him through his Profound Ice Armor.
• Xu Taiping blocked a group attack with the Azure Luan Ring’s Wind Wall, then killed two Yellow Maple Valley disciples with Two Cicadas Crying in Unison.
• Azure qi rose from the dead disciples and formed two halos around the Rakshasa phantom as Xu Taiping wondered if it was being entangled by evil thoughts.

Xu Taiping cut down cultivators drawn to the Bodhi Fruit while evading Nie Chen and using the Divine General phantoms to hold Shang Jiu back. As Taixuan Mu Yunying fought Shang Jiu, Xu Taiping continued attacking from concealment, leaving Nie Chen furious after he froze only a clone.

• Xu Taiping broke through groups of cultivators using the Six-Petal Formation and killed them with his Demon-Slaying Blade techniques.
• Xu Taiping used clones and a True Fire Talisman to evade Nie Chen's Black Ice Palm while continuing to attack the crowd.
• Shang Jiu destroyed Divine General Zheng Wen's phantom and attacked Xu Taiping with his Sandstorm Blade Intent.
• Taixuan Mu Yunying appeared, intercepted Shang Jiu's attack, and began holding him off at Xu Taiping's request.
• Nie Chen froze Xu Taiping's clone, while the real Xu Taiping used his Concealment Cloak and Endless Horizon to reach another group of cultivators.

Xu Taiping’s blade force faltered when Nie Chen used Profound Ice Armor and an alternating assault formation to contain him. After Blade Ghost urged him to stop yielding, Xu Taiping unleashed his full resolve, shattered the formation, and killed Nie Chen, whose golden light escaped with a vow of revenge.

• Nie Chen covered the cultivators in Profound Ice Armor, blunting Xu Taiping’s Crane Cry, then rallied them into an alternating assault formation.
• As the cultivators pressed him, Xu Taiping recalled the Demon-Slaying Blade’s formula, and Blade Ghost told him to hold no one in his eyes and bow to neither law nor heaven.
• Xu Taiping stopped avoiding attacks, cleaved through the incoming treasure radiance despite suffering severe wounds, and plunged into the formation with rising blade force.
• Xu Taiping shattered Nie Chen’s formation and slew the armored cultivators with single slashes.
• Nie Chen attacked Xu Taiping, who severed both his hands and then killed him with successive blade strikes.
• A streak of golden light escaped Nie Chen’s exploding body, and his furious voice vowed revenge for all eternity.

Xu Taiping exhausted his strength fighting the cultivators and Shang Jiu, then used the power of All Beings Are Equal and the Flood Dragon Token to force them both into the Wilderness Heaven. He challenged Shang Jiu to settle their fight with martial artists’ blades.

• After the power of All Beings Are Equal expired, Xu Taiping wounded the remaining cultivators with Hundred Cicadas Crying in Unison, but Shang Jiu struck him down.
• Xu Taiping pretended he could no longer use All Beings Are Equal, then activated it again to suppress Shang Jiu and grievously wound him with Cicada Cry.
• When the Buddhist prayer bead shattered, Shang Jiu realized Xu Taiping’s power could only last briefly and believed his opponent was nearly spent.
• Xu Taiping revealed his Wild Lion Physique and Raging Lion Realm, then dropped the Flood Dragon Token to draw himself and Shang Jiu into the Wilderness Heaven.
• Xu Taiping challenged Shang Jiu to fight with martial artists’ blades, where neither could use true essence.