Chapter Summaries

After helping Vairocana Temple prepare for the Buddha Child’s birth, Xu Taiping joined the child’s parents for a meal instead of returning to plan for his fight with the Heavenly Wolf King. The mother’s concern eased his exhaustion, and her resolve to let her son protect ordinary people left Xu Taiping reflecting on why the fight mattered.

• Xu Taiping declined Abbot Huiming’s invitation to the temple’s dining hall when the Buddha Child’s father pulled him aside to share a meal.
• Abbot Huiming wondered whether the Buddha Child’s parents were reincarnations of eminent monks and left without interrupting them.
• As Xu Taiping ate, the Buddha Child’s mother noticed his distraction and urged him not to push himself against the demons and devils.
• Xu Taiping realized how exhausted he was, drank Dragon Gall Wine, and felt refreshed after the pain swept the fatigue away.
• The parents argued about whether their son, Yelai, should grow up to subdue demons and exterminate devils.
• The mother said that if Yelai could protect people from demons and devils, she would let him do it without charging a coin.

Xu Taiping learned why the Heavenly Wolf King's axe strike carried a power he could not imitate: it held the true intent of a demon butcher. Blade Ghost and Fairy Lingyue explained the origin laws demons pursued, and Blade Ghost taught Xu Taiping the blade cultivator’s own true intent as a way to break his opponent’s.

• Xu Taiping watched the couple argue over Wangcai before the Buddha Child Yelai smiled at him and delighted them both.
• In Blade Ghost’s Blade Domain, Blade Ghost recreated the Heavenly Wolf King’s axe strike, but Xu Taiping sensed it was missing something.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that Transformation Realm cultivators pursued truth, while demon cultivators sought the Nine Abysses’ origin laws.
• Fairy Lingyue identified Heavenly Wolf King Guyue as a butcher whose origin-law true intent let him cut through anything and leave it ruined.
• Xu Taiping asked whether demon butchers’ true intent resembled that of blade and sword cultivators, and Fairy Lingyue explained their different purposes.
• Blade Ghost reminded Xu Taiping that blade cultivators sought to hold no one in their eyes and bow to neither law nor heaven, and said that intent could break an opponent’s true intent.

Xu Taiping trained with Blade Ghost to fuse the Cicada Cry Form and Immortal-Rending Slash, preparing to defeat the Heavenly Wolf King with one strike. On the Single-Plank Bridge, he unleashed Hundred Cicadas United as One and tore through the Heavenly Wolf King’s axe shadow.

• Blade Ghost repeatedly killed and revived Xu Taiping as he honed his blade techniques for the coming battle.
• Fairy Lingyue reflected that Xu Taiping’s progress toward the ultimate realm was crucial to his chance of reaching the Transformation Realm.
• Two days later, Xu Taiping faced the Heavenly Wolf King on the Single-Plank Bridge and chose to wait for his attack without activating the Asura Armor.
• The Heavenly Wolf King struck with his Giant Axe, and Xu Taiping drew his blade as the Asura Armor released its power.
• Xu Taiping used the Cicada Cry Form to briefly restrain the Heavenly Wolf King, then combined over a hundred blade shadows into Hundred Cicadas United as One and shattered the axe shadow.

Xu Taiping defeated the Heavenly Wolf King’s axe strike, but the king’s final attack collapsed a meditation room and killed the couple protecting Buddha Child Yelai. After finding Yelai alive, Xu Taiping resolved to face the Heavenly Wolf King again and began preparing another attempt.

• Xu Taiping’s Immortal-Rending Slash broke the axe strike’s momentum, then re-formed and blasted through the Heavenly Wolf King’s chest, shattering his axe and armor.
• The wounded Heavenly Wolf King hurled the remaining half of his axe at the meditation room where the Buddha Child was staying.
• Warrior monks from Brahma Sound Temple and other temples arrived as Xu Taiping rushed to the back courtyard and lifted the giant axe off the collapsed building.
• Xu Taiping found the country couple dead beneath the rubble, while Buddha Child Yelai survived beneath their bodies.
• Xu Taiping told Fairy Lingyue and Blade Ghost to leave their Divine Soul Marks so he could fight the Heavenly Wolf King again, then made a clone that drew its blade and slashed at him.

Xu Taiping defeated Heavenly Wolf King Guyue with an ultimate slash, but Guyue escaped before the monks arrived. After Xu Taiping found Sis and the Buddha Child’s family safe, hidden demons attacked them, and four monks descended to intervene.

• Xu Taiping defeated Heavenly Wolf King Guyue with a single ultimate slash, and Guyue fled with the surviving Werewolf Demons.
• Monks from the major temples arrived and drove the Werewolf Demons from the area while Xu Taiping hurried to check on Sis and the Buddha Child’s family.
• Xu Taiping found Sis and the Buddha Child’s family alive after they had followed his warning to leave their courtyard.
• A spear flew toward Xu Taiping and the family, but a golden palm knocked it away before hidden demonic beasts attacked them.
• Four monks wearing kasayas descended as Xu Taiping prepared to defend the family.

Xu Taiping and the abbots of the Five Chan Temples subdued the demonic beasts at Vairocana Temple, and the abbots mistook his departure for a sign that Kasyapa was displeased with them. Before Xu Taiping could explain, a Buddha appeared and ordered the Youyun Chan School to raise the Buddha Child to adulthood and resolve its karma before judgment.

• An old monk transformed into an asura and blasted the demonic beasts attacking Xu Taiping and the Buddha Child, while the other monks subdued the rest.
• Abbot Huiming checked that Xu Taiping and the Buddha Child were unharmed, then introduced Xu Taiping as the Heavenly Dharma Protector to the abbots of the Four Great Buddhist Temples.
• Xu Taiping said he would leave Cloud Emergence Kingdom, and the five abbots feared that Kasyapa had rejected their Chan School.
• Guangze knelt before Xu Taiping and begged him to tell the Ancient Buddha about the Chan School's plight.
• A Buddha appeared above Vairocana Temple and commanded the Youyun Chan School to raise the Buddha Child to adulthood and resolve its karma before receiving judgment.

Xu Taiping learned that Venerable Jiaye had used Ancient Buddha Kasyapa’s name to enlist him as the Heavenly Dharma Protector, then warned him that he faced deadly ill fortune within a hundred days. As Xu Taiping felt a strange brand burn on his hand, Fairy Lingyue revealed that she had gambled both their lives by bringing him to Youyun Heaven.

• Venerable Jiaye admitted that he had impersonated Ancient Buddha Kasyapa to command the abbots and explained that Xu Taiping’s Buddhist connection made him a useful messenger.
• Xu Taiping asked Venerable Jiaye to pay him for rescuing the Buddha Child, and Venerable Jiaye left him a Dhyana Seal with nine beads that each granted a hundred days of meditative absorption.
• Venerable Jiaye warned Xu Taiping that he would likely face life-threatening ill fortune within a hundred days.
• A burning pain appeared on Xu Taiping’s hand, and Fairy Lingyue told him to cover it without looking.
• Fairy Lingyue confessed that she had gambled both her life and Xu Taiping’s by bringing him to Youyun Heaven.

Fairy Lingyue explained that Xu Taiping needed Phoenix Marrow to overcome the Transformation Realm with mortal bones and planned to obtain it through her former role in the Abyssal Pavilion. The plan depended on a treasure from the Blood Rain Forest, but a mark from the One-Leaf Book revealed that its owner had discovered them.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that breaking through the Transformation Realm with mortal bones required an Ultimate Realm technique, a Life-Bound Immortal Weapon, and Phoenix Marrow.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that Phoenix Marrow could be obtained from Phoenix Marrow Stones in the deadly Fire Prison Secret Realm.
• Fairy Lingyue revealed that she had been Yuezhu, Second Seat of the Abyssal Pavilion, and planned to offer Immortal Elder Wuji a treasure from the Blood Rain Forest in exchange for a Phoenix Marrow Stone.
• Xu Taiping promised to give his all at the Golden Scale Assembly to improve their chances of obtaining the treasure.
• Fairy Lingyue showed Xu Taiping a leaf-shaped brand on his hand and told him that the owner of the One-Leaf Book had discovered them.

Fairy Lingyue revealed that the One-Leaf Book would detect her in Youyun Heaven, making their plan a dangerous gamble. Xu Taiping chose to face the risk with her, and Lingyue sealed the brand on his hand to delay the Master of the One-Leaf Book’s pursuit.

• Fairy Lingyue admitted she had concealed that entering Youyun Heaven would let the One-Leaf Book detect her, and Xu Taiping understood why she had called their plan a huge gamble.
• Fairy Lingyue offered Xu Taiping a way to return to True Martial Heaven, but he chose to explore the path beyond the Transformation Realm with her.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that the One-Leaf Book would screen three thousand people over as long as three months, giving them time to reach Blood Rain Forest, perform Seed Burning, and plant the Earth Fruit.
• Fairy Lingyue sealed the eye-shaped brand on Xu Taiping’s hand, making the Master of the One-Leaf Book believe Xu Taiping had already been screened.

Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue discussed the danger posed by the Master of the One-Leaf Book and planned preparations for the Blood Rain Forest. Xu Taiping read Sect Master Zhao Qian’s letter and learned how the Seven Peaks had gathered money, treasures, and messages of goodwill for him.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that she could seal the One-Leaf Book’s imprint for only two or three months and warned him that the Master of the One-Leaf Book was nearly unmatched in Youyun Heaven.
• Fairy Lingyue urged Xu Taiping to perform Seed Burning for the Earth Fruit and reach the Blood Rain Forest within three months, using a Threefold True Fire Talisman instead of the Red Crow Golden Flame Fire.
• Xu Taiping proposed visiting the Southern Chu Kingdom’s trading house to buy the talisman and other supplies, and Fairy Lingyue reminded him that an Azure Profound Sect disciple had established a martial arts school there.
• Xu Taiping opened Sect Master Zhao Qian’s letter, which explained that Junior Martial Uncle had insisted he attend the Golden Scale Assembly and sound his sword there.
• Xu Taiping read that the Seven Peaks had pooled twenty thousand Gold Essence Coins and contributed pills, talismans, and other gifts, while Linglong had placed a Moonshadow Stone containing messages from the sect’s disciples.

After learning from the Azure Profound Sect's letter that the Mysterious Cloud Hall could shelter him in Youyun Heaven, Xu Taiping went to Southern Chu's Imperial Capital. He found the hall, only to discover that its master had just been thrown out by a challenger.

• Xu Taiping read that the Mysterious Cloud Hall was a martial hall in Youyun Heaven and that winning another match there could help his dying Junior Martial Uncle, so he decided to leave for Southern Chu's Imperial Capital with Fairy Lingyue.
• Two days later, Xu Taiping arrived in the Imperial Capital and asked a fox demon for directions to the Mysterious Cloud Hall.
• Xu Taiping gave the fox demon a Gold Essence Coin and headed toward the hall, intending to explain that he belonged to the Azure Profound Sect.
• Before Xu Taiping reached the entrance, a woman flew out of the Mysterious Cloud Hall and crashed into a wall.
• A bystander told Xu Taiping that the woman who had been thrown out was the master of the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall.

Xu Taiping learned from Auntie Sun why the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall had fallen into decline and how its remaining siblings were struggling to keep it open. After another loss, he turned his attention to the young man, just as the girl was thrown out of the hall again.

• Xu Taiping met Auntie Sun outside the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall and asked about its past.
• Auntie Sun explained that Zhou Guanxu abducted Princess Tiancheng and fled into the Blood Rain Forest, where Hall Master Lu Rushuang and her husband pursued them and never returned.
• Auntie Sun said that the hall's former disciples scattered, leaving Lu's adopted siblings to keep it running and face the city's annual challenges.
• Auntie Sun explained that a martial hall would be struck from the rolls after losing more than ten received challenges each year for three consecutive years.
• A refined young man was thrown from the hall after another defeat, and Auntie Sun warned Xu Taiping not to make trouble for the siblings.
• As Xu Taiping turned toward the young man, the girl was thrown from the hall again.

Xu Taiping rescued Lu Wen from Ma Wenxuan’s lethal attack and agreed to pose as a newly recruited martial master of Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall to avoid being charged with a street brawl. Ma Wenxuan then challenged him to face his towering senior brother.

• Ma Wenxuan accused Lu Yun of trying to seduce him and defeated Lu Wen when he attacked in anger.
• Ma Wenxuan prepared to kill the fallen Lu Wen, but Xu Taiping appeared and repelled his kick with a punch.
• Xu Taiping helped Lu Wen stand, and Lu Yun thanked him for saving her younger brother.
• Ma Wenxuan claimed Xu Taiping had started a street brawl, so Lu Yun said he was a martial master newly recruited by Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall.
• Ma Wenxuan challenged Xu Taiping to fight his nine-foot-tall senior brother, who threatened him.

Xu Taiping faced Jiang Wu in the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall’s challenge match, where defeat could lead to the hall being struck off the rolls. After Jiang Wu’s first punch drove him back, Xu Taiping caught the next punch with one hand, revealing that he also had a Martial Venerable Realm physique.

• Lu Yun and Lu Wen warned Xu Taiping about Jiang Wu’s strength and explained that the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall could lose its standing if it lost the match.
• Ma Wenxuan brought constables to witness the challenge and threatened to accuse Xu Taiping of pretending to join the hall if he conceded without fighting.
• Jiang Wu mocked Xu Taiping and launched a golden, forceful punch that Xu Taiping blocked with crossed arms, sending him sliding backward.
• Jiang Wu surged forward and struck again, but Xu Taiping caught his punch with one hand.
• Onlookers noticed Xu Taiping’s muscular physique and realized he had a Martial Venerable Realm physique too.

Xu Taiping used his awakened flood dragon physique to withstand Jiang Wu’s attacks and countered the Vajra Sky-Splitting Hammer with the Azure Ox Great Sage Fist. He shattered Jiang Wu’s hammer shadow, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Jiang Wu attacked Xu Taiping with a punch, but Xu Taiping blocked it without injury and caught both of Jiang Wu’s fists.
• Jiang Wu headbutted Xu Taiping, but the collision left Jiang Wu bleeding and Xu Taiping unharmed.
• Jiang Wu used Diamond Power to break free, then launched the Vajra Sky-Splitting Hammer at Xu Taiping.
• Xu Taiping answered with the Azure Ox Great Sage Fist’s Heaven-Rending Stance and shattered Jiang Wu’s hammer shadow.

Xu Taiping defeated Jiang Wu and Ma Wenxuan, but Dharma Master Chongde stepped in to fight for the Ma Family Martial Arts School. After learning Chongde was a disciple of Prajna Temple’s abbot Guangze, Xu Taiping paused to confirm something with a Sound Transmission Jade Disc.

• Xu Taiping battered Jiang Wu and Ma Wenxuan with the Heaven-Rending Stance, then sent them flying through the training hall’s doorway.
• Dharma Master Chongde caught Jiang Wu and Ma Wenxuan and dispelled Xu Taiping’s fist force with golden light.
• Ma Wenxuan offered to establish a Buddhist Hall, and Chongde agreed to fight for the Ma Family Martial Arts School.
• Chongde urged Xu Taiping to concede, but Xu Taiping asked which Chan temple Chongde had studied under.
• Chongde revealed that his master was the abbot of Prajna Temple, Guangze, and Xu Taiping took out a Sound Transmission Jade Disc to confirm something.

The five presiding abbots waited anxiously in Huiming’s meditation room for a message from the Heavenly Dharma Protector, who had traveled to Southern Chu. Guangze revealed Prajna Temple’s growing influence there, and the chapter ended as the Message Jade Disc lit up with an incoming message.

• Huiming tried to send the other abbots home, but they refused to leave until the Heavenly Dharma Protector contacted them.
• The abbots worried that the Heavenly Dharma Protector might be in danger in Southern Chu, where the Chan School had little Buddhist support and his avatar lacked the Asura Armor’s power.
• Guangze explained that Prajna Temple’s disciples had spread the Dharma in Southern Chu and that his disciple Chongyang led the Golden Saber Guard.
• Guangze revealed that Chongyang would command Southern Chu’s campaign against the Yaomo around Black Wind Ridge, potentially helping Prajna Temple establish a temple in the Imperial Capital.
• The Message Jade Disc began shining, and Guangze recognized that the Heavenly Dharma Protector had sent a message.

Xu Taiping alerted Abbot Guangze that Chongde had come to challenge his friend’s martial arts school, prompting Guangze to order Chongde not to trouble the school again. At the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall, Chongde prepared to fight, and Xu Taiping pointed out that Chongde’s messaging artifact was lighting up.

• Abbot Guangze learned that Chongde was a Prajna Temple disciple and offered him to Xu Taiping’s service.
• Xu Taiping explained that Chongde had come to challenge his friend’s martial arts school, and Guangze apologized and promised to speak with him.
• Xu Taiping asked Guangze to tell Chongde not to trouble his friend again, and Guangze summoned Chongde to receive his orders.
• At the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall, Ma Wenxuan and Jiang Wu dismissed Xu Taiping’s attempt to seek help, while Chongde warned he would not hold back.
• Xu Taiping told Chongde that the messaging artifact in his sleeve had lit up.

Xu Taiping’s status as a Dharma Protector forced Monk Chongde to withdraw from the challenge and seek a place at the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall. There, Lu Yun and Lu Wen recognized his Azure Profound Sect Token and entrusted him with a Jade Box their missing mother had left for a sect disciple.

• Monk Chongde received Guangze’s message identifying Xu Taiping as the Buddha Child’s Heavenly Dharma Protector, then apologized to Xu Taiping and withdrew from Ma Wenxuan’s challenge.
• Chongde asked to become a martial master at the Mysterious Cloud Martial Hall, while Jiang Wu warned Ma Wenxuan not to provoke him.
• Xu Taiping showed Lu Yun and Lu Wen his Azure Profound Sect Token, and they recognized it as matching the one their mother had left them.
• Lu Yun explained that their mother, Lu Rushuang, had founded the martial hall to preserve her connection to the Azure Profound Sect and had gone missing while hunting a traitor in the Blood Rain Forest.
• Lu Yun gave Xu Taiping the Jade Box Lu Rushuang had left for an Azure Profound Sect disciple, saying its contents could help Qingxuan end its suffering.

Xu Taiping read his martial aunt’s letter and learned that the gold-colored object she had sent to Qingxuan was the key to breaking the Azure Profound Sect’s death trap and saving Lü Daoxuan. When the Lotus Eye transformed it into a Heaven-Sealing Stone, Fairy Lingyue recognized its importance, but Xu Taiping lost control of his body and One-Leaf Book’s brand appeared again.

• Xu Taiping opened the jade box with his Azure Profound Sect true essence and found a letter and a lump of gold.
• Xu Taiping read his martial aunt’s letter, which said the object had taken her centuries to find and could save Lü Daoxuan from the sect’s death trap.
• Fairy Lingyue asked Xu Taiping to let her examine the gold, but his Lotus Eye flared and transformed it into a purple-gold stone.
• Fairy Lingyue recognized the stone as a Heaven-Sealing Stone and told Xu Taiping to close his Lotus Eye, but he said he could not control it or move his body.
• Fairy Lingyue prepared to take control of Xu Taiping’s body, but One-Leaf Book’s brand appeared on the back of his hand.