Chapter Summaries

Li Daoyan told Xu Taiping where to find dragon gall stone and gave him treasures before bidding farewell with the other fallen heroes. With Fairy Lingyue recovered and the remnant souls ready to protect him, Xu Taiping began his breakthrough by taking the Nirvana Pill.

• Li Daoyan told Xu Taiping that dragon gall stone could be found in the Immortal-Burying Ruins and mentioned a Profound Elixir Palace treasure that might suppress his misfortune.
• Li Daoyan gave Xu Taiping the Spirit Pearl and the Primordial Lord’s black beads, then explained their uses.
• Xu Taiping poured out Hidden Immortal Wine as a farewell offering and wished the remnant souls of the Human Race completion of their immortal paths.
• Yan Kai and the remnant souls invited Xu Taiping to begin his breakthrough, while Fairy Lingyue told him she had recovered and could help if needed.
• Xu Taiping swallowed the Nirvana Pill and circulated the Cloud-Riding Scripture as his aura surged and phoenix-like true qi rose around him.

Xu Taiping broke through to the Heavenly Gazing Realm as his swords and saber shielded him from the tribulation lightning. As Otherworldly Heavenly Demons appeared to seize the heavenly spiritual power, Yan Kai and Li Daoyan prepared to defend him with the Myriad Gods Formation.

• Yan Kai and Li Daoyan discussed Fairy Lingyue’s power and learned that Xu Taiping regarded her as family.
• Xu Taiping’s aura reached the Heavenly Gazing Realm, and Kunwu, Rusty Lion, and Po Jun rose to face his tribulation.
• The flying swords shattered the first two bolts of lightning, while Kunwu and the Water-Cutting Blade weakened the third before it struck Xu Taiping.
• Heavenly spiritual power poured down onto Xu Taiping, and dozens of blood-red eyes appeared overhead as Otherworldly Heavenly Demons gathered.
• Yan Kai and Li Daoyan activated the Myriad Gods Formation, sending its remnant souls toward the demonic beasts to protect Xu Taiping.

Xu Taiping broke through to the Heaven Gazing Realm, forming a Golden Core that restored and strengthened his body while his Primordial Spirit absorbed five Soul Rings and greatly increased his Divine Soul power. He then received the Demon Ancestor’s first Ancestral Sage Fist true intent, Ants Shake the Tree.

• Xu Taiping shattered his Pill Embryo and formed a Golden Core, completing the key step into the Heaven Gazing Realm.
• Golden Spiritual Power from the Golden Core restored and strengthened Xu Taiping’s meridians, organs, flesh, bones, bloodline, and Qi and Blood.
• Xu Taiping’s Primordial Spirit absorbed five Soul Rings, increasing his Divine Soul power fifteenfold.
• Xu Taiping saw a monkey-faced old man practicing Ancestral Sage Fist and recognized him as the Demon Ancestor.
• The Demon Ancestor imparted the first fist intent, Ants Shake the Tree, and demonstrated it by blasting a huge hole through a mountain.

Xu Taiping learned the true intent of “Ants Shake the Tree” and completed his breakthrough, only to find the world around him scorched and the other Remnant Souls gone. Li Daoyan warned him about the danger of future breakthroughs and began questioning him about the River of Time.

• Xu Taiping witnessed the Demon Ancestor demonstrate “Ants Shake the Tree” and received its true intent, learning to wield it by visualizing his tiny Primordial Spirit figure.
• Xu Taiping regained his senses and found the world reduced to scorched earth, with no signs of life.
• Li Daoyan told Xu Taiping that unusually powerful Otherworldly Heavenly Demons had attacked and warned him to prepare thoroughly before his next breakthrough.
• Li Daoyan told Xu Taiping that Yan Kai, Senior Pearl Relic, Senior Cloud Crane, and the other Remnant Souls had dissipated after fighting the demons.
• Li Daoyan summoned the Kunwu Sword and asked Xu Taiping whether Life-Replenishers could be drawn into the River of Time whenever they broke through a realm.

Li Daoyan explained how Xu Taiping could use the Kunwu Sword to control his journeys into the River of Time and warned him to strengthen his cultivation before the Zhenwu Sword Champion Assembly. After Li Daoyan vanished, the Kunwu Sword absorbed the power of time that would otherwise have pulled Xu Taiping into the river.

• Li Daoyan told Xu Taiping that the Kunwu Sword could absorb the power of time generated when he advanced and let him visit stretches of the River of Time where he had already left footprints.
• Xu Taiping decided to use his chance to rescue Lin Buyu rather than visit his grandfather, and Li Daoyan said he had seen everyone he wanted to see in the river.
• Li Daoyan told Xu Taiping to wait until he left the realm before opening the Divine Soul Marks in the Kunwu Sword and to stabilize his Heaven Gazing Realm cultivation before facing Su Chan at the Zhenwu Sword Champion Assembly.
• Li Daoyan asked Xu Taiping to tell him when he ascended to heaven, then vanished, and Xu Taiping bowed farewell.
• The Kunwu Sword rang out and absorbed the power of time that had begun to spread through Xu Taiping after his breakthrough.

After learning the limits of the Kunwu Sword’s power over the River of Time, Xu Taiping prepared the Earth Fruit Golden Lotus with treasures and entered the River of Light and Shadow to rescue little Buyu. He arrived in the tributary where she was waiting for him.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that the Kunwu Sword would return him to the same tributary if he used the same strand of temporal power, and that he could enter the River of Time only three times for up to a day each.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that Xu Taiping needed to plant nutrients around the Earth Fruit Golden Lotus before leaving, so he, Ping'an, and Bai Yu filled nine holes with treasures over four or five days.
• Xu Taiping placed the Dragon-Trapping Tower beside the pond and prepared to travel through the River of Light and Shadow with the Kunwu Sword.
• Xu Taiping plunged into the golden River of Time, where little Buyu excitedly greeted him.

Xu Taiping reunited with Lin Buyu in the cave and learned she had survived four months alone by practicing the Remnant Sunset Scripture. He broke open the blocked entrance, flooding the cave with sunlight and preparing to take her out.

• Xu Taiping returned to the cave and helped the frail Lin Buyu to her feet, discovering that her aura had reached the Gate Opening Realm.
• Lin Buyu told Xu Taiping she had spent four more months in the cave, using the Remnant Sunset Scripture to endure hunger and marking time on the wall.
• Xu Taiping explained that he could get her out and led her to the rocks sealing the cave entrance.
• Xu Taiping used the Ancestral Sage Fist's Baxia Form to shatter the rocks, then cleared the rubble with successive palm strikes.
• Sunlight streamed into the cave as the entrance opened.

Xu Taiping helped little Buyu escape her cave, but the collapse of her tributary in the River of Time swept him through scenes from Lin Buyu’s past. He saw her leave the Taihao Sect for the Ten Evils Monastery and endure cruel treatment there before he was pulled back to the Golden Court, confused about what he had witnessed.

• Xu Taiping found an invisible barrier blocking the cave exit and began turning transparent as the River of Time expelled him.
• Xu Taiping urged little Buyu to leave on her own, and she ran out of the cave before the sunlight swallowed them both.
• Xu Taiping was swept through time and saw Lin Buyu defy the Taihao Sect’s Sect Master, then leave after he threatened to send her to the Ten Evils Monastery.
• Xu Taiping saw a woman at the Ten Evils Monastery kick Lin Buyu down and force her to eat from a dog bowl.
• An invisible force dragged Xu Taiping into darkness, and he returned to the Golden Court wondering what had happened.

Xu Taiping learned from Fairy Lingyue that the scene he witnessed in Lin Buyu’s River of Time was not a death tribulation and that he could intervene again without disrupting karma too much. When the Kunwu Sword regained its power, he returned to Lin Buyu’s past and wondered whether he could possess her to avoid being expelled from the River of Time.

• Xu Taiping told Fairy Lingyue what he had witnessed after rescuing Little Buyu from the cave.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that the scene was not a death tribulation and said Xu Taiping could return to help Lin Buyu, though he should first understand the causes and effects involved.
• Fairy Lingyue pointed out that Lin Buyu may have lived a second or third life and suspected that someone within the Taihao Sect wanted to harm her.
• Fairy Lingyue urged Xu Taiping to forge a Soul-Sealing Sword with the Furnace Body Tempering Method before continuing his cultivation.
• The Kunwu Sword recovered its power, and Xu Taiping returned to Lin Buyu’s River of Time as she was kicked by a burly female disciple of the Ten Evils Monastery.
• Xu Taiping wondered whether he could possess Lin Buyu to avoid being expelled from the River of Time.

Xu Taiping took control of a big yellow dog to save Lin Buyu from being forced to eat dog food, then followed the monastery’s supervisors after the exhausted dog was captured. He overheard a tenant farmer’s son question the sinister threats at Ten Evils Monastery, giving him a new lead as he investigated the place.

• Xu Taiping possessed the big yellow dog, broke its leash, and knocked down a disciple as he charged toward Lin Buyu.
• Xu Taiping snatched the dog-food dish from beside Lin Buyu and caused a commotion in the rear courtyard, distracting the disciples with fires in two Firewood Sheds.
• Lin Buyu watched as the dog’s actions saved her from the burly female disciple, while Xu Taiping’s control left the dog exhausted and unable to wake.
• Monastery Supervisors caught the big yellow dog and dragged it away, so Xu Taiping followed them to investigate Ten Evils Monastery.
• Xu Taiping overheard an Estate Head warn Old Jiang and his son not to make noise or wander, and the boy asked his father why the monastery’s people seemed so sinister.

Xu Taiping learned how Ten Evils Monastery punished its imprisoned disciples and discovered that the old farmer might once have been a cultivator. When Lin Buyu challenged Su Muling for the sake of a big yellow dog, Xu Taiping recognized her kindness and understood that she was truly Junior Sister Buyu.

• The old farmer explained to his son Muguang that Ten Evils Monastery forced disciples to challenge one another for gems, with repeated losses leading to slavery in the mines.
• Xu Taiping suspected that Lin Buyu had been attacked because other disciples hoped to win gems by defeating her.
• The old farmer hinted that he had once been a cultivator and asked Muguang if he wanted to become an immortal.
• Lin Buyu challenged Su Muling by name, and the monastery master granted the match for the next day.
• Lin Buyu asked to receive a big yellow dog instead of spirit stones if she won, explaining that she would not let someone who had shown her kindness die.
• Xu Taiping realized that Lin Buyu's compassion confirmed she was truly Junior Sister Buyu.

Xu Taiping possessed Old Man Jiang and secretly sparred with Lin Buyu, using the fight to correct her techniques before her challenge against Su Muling. He revealed the Blood Qi Body Tempering Art and prepared to teach it to her.

• Xu Taiping watched Lin Buyu train and decided to teach her the Blood Qi Body Tempering Art to improve her chances against Su Muling.
• Xu Taiping possessed Old Man Jiang, whose cultivation had been sealed, and disguised himself as the old man.
• Xu Taiping provoked Lin Buyu into attacking, then defeated her and pointed out flaws in her punches and footwork as they sparred.
• Lin Buyu realized Xu Taiping was helping her and asked why he had come to her aid.
• Xu Taiping demonstrated the art by turning his arms bronze and surging with Qi and Blood Power, and Lin Buyu asked him to teach it to her.

Xu Taiping investigated why Lin Buyu was hated at the Ten Evils Monastery and learned that her rejection of Lü Kuan had provoked the other female disciples. As Lin Buyu’s challenge match against Su Muling began, he saw her conserve her True Essence while making her way to the platform.

• Xu Taiping learned that Lin Buyu was likely the Taihao Sect master's daughter, though the sect master seemed to hate her.
• Xu Taiping discovered that Lü Kuan's public favor had made Lin Buyu a target, and that his rejected proposal had intensified the female disciples' hostility.
• Su Muling arrived at the platform as her supporters urged her to hurt Lin Buyu.
• Supervisor He called Lin Buyu and Su Muling to begin their match.
• Lin Buyu walked to the platform rather than leaping up, conserving her True Essence, and greeted Supervisor He.

Lin Buyu fought Su Muling in a match overseen by Supervisor He, who favored Su Muling and mocked Lin Buyu. After both fighters exhausted their True Essence, Lin Buyu revealed that she had mastered the Blood Qi Body Tempering Method and broke Su Muling’s leg with a bronze fist.

• Supervisor He announced that Su Muling would win a spirit stone, while Lin Buyu would win a big yellow dog, and allowed the match to begin despite Su Muling’s early attack.
• Su Muling struck first and pressed Lin Buyu with forceful attacks, but Lin Buyu used her Dharma Robe and improved punches to land a series of blows.
• Su Muling counterattacked with Gang Qi and powerful kicks, exhausting Lin Buyu’s True Essence and knocking her to the ground.
• Su Muling charged at Lin Buyu again, but Lin Buyu’s Qi and Blood Power surged and her fist turned bronze.
• Lin Buyu struck Su Muling’s incoming leg and broke it, revealing that she had mastered the Blood Qi Body Tempering Method.

Lin Buyu defeated Su Muling through a relentless battle of endurance, then left the arena alone after Supervisor He announced her victory. Xu Taiping secretly congratulated her, and Lin Buyu began to suspect he was the “Big Brother” who had practiced boxing with her that morning.

• Lin Buyu repeatedly attacked Su Muling as she tried to set her broken ankle, eventually breaking several of her fingers with a bronze-tempered punch.
• Lin Buyu traded injuries with Su Muling until Su Muling’s defenses faltered, then knocked her unconscious with a punch to the face.
• Supervisor He reluctantly declared Lin Buyu the winner, and Lin Buyu collapsed before pushing away help and limping off alone.
• Xu Taiping secretly congratulated Lin Buyu by voice transmission, but stayed silent when she asked who he was.
• Lin Buyu turned back and guessed that Xu Taiping was Big Brother, the person who had practiced boxing with her that morning.

Xu Taiping witnessed Lü Kuan coercing Lin Lu into delivering a suspicious medicine to Lin Buyu, then secretly intervened when Lü Kuan tortured him. Lin Lu suddenly displayed extraordinary strength, leaving Lü Kuan’s sword attack poised against his mithril-colored body.

• Lü Kuan threatened Lin Lu into taking a medicine bottle to Lin Buyu, but Lin Lu refused and tried to flee.
• Lü Kuan wounded Lin Lu with his flying sword, used an Earth-Rank Eye-Obscuring Talisman to hide them, and tortured him until he nearly agreed to obey.
• Xu Taiping intervened through a thunderous voice, prompting Lin Lu to seize Lü Kuan’s sword and defy him.
• Lü Kuan recalled his sword and unleashed hundreds of Sword Shadows at Lin Lu.
• Lin Lu rose on one leg as his body, except for his face, turned mithril-colored and withstood the attack’s opening surge.

Xu Taiping used Lin Lu’s body to defeat Lü Kuan and discovered that possessing someone kept him from being expelled by the River of Light and Shadow. After returning, he saw an ominous vision of a giant Fire Python attacking Ten Evils Monastery, then learned Fairy Lingyue had found a way out.

• Lin Lu destroyed Lü Kuan’s flying sword, shattered his protective barriers, and used the Mysterious Wasteland Art to break his mind.
• Xu Taiping revealed himself after Lin Lu collapsed and concluded that possessing another person prevented the River of Light and Shadow from expelling him.
• Lin Buyu welcomed the big yellow dog into her courtyard and shared steamed buns with it.
• As the River of Light and Shadow pulled Xu Taiping back, he saw a thousand-zhang Fire Python devouring the disciples of Ten Evils Monastery.
• Bai Yu and Ping'an woke Xu Taiping, and Fairy Lingyue told him to practice the Furnace Body Tempering Method and forge the Demon-Sealing Sword because she had found a way out.

Fifty years after Xu Taiping disappeared, cultivators gathered in Immortal-Retaining Town ahead of the True Martial Sword Champion Assembly and argued over his legacy. Liu Changtian insulted Xu Taiping and praised a child as his superior before Zhao Linglong confronted him.

• An old storyteller recounted Xu Taiping’s pursuit of the Arsonists and toasted him for defending True Martial Heaven.
• Liu Changtian objected to the storyteller linking Liang Chengshan to Wang You Valley, and True Martial Heaven cultivators challenged his denial.
• Liu Changtian led the Wang You Valley disciples toward the exit and claimed Xu Taiping could not compare to the boy beside him.
• Zhao Linglong drew her sword and warned Liu Changtian to watch his mouth, and he recognized her as an Azure Profound Sect disciple.

Zhao Linglong confronted Liu Changtian after he insulted Xu Taiping, but Liu Changtian revealed a rumor that threatened the Azure Profound Sect, prompting Lu Sibai to intervene. Dugu Qingxiao drove the two Wang You Valley cultivators out and agreed to face Lu Sibai at the True Martial Sword Champion Tournament, where he accused him of burning millions of people in the Great Liang Kingdom.

• Zhao Linglong struck Liu Changtian with her sword intent and demanded that he apologize to Xu Taiping and leave.
• Liu Changtian protected himself with a jade pendant and revealed rumors that the Cloud Lodge secret realm held an ancient Sword Immortal's ruins, angering Zhao Linglong.
• Lu Sibai arrived and clashed with Zhao Linglong, forcing her back with his sword intent.
• Dugu Qingxiao shattered Lu Sibai's sword intent and ordered Zhao Linglong to sheathe her sword.
• Dugu Qingxiao accepted Lu Sibai's challenge for the True Martial Sword Champion Tournament on the condition that Lu tear Liu Changtian's mouth apart.
• Dugu Qingxiao accused Lu Sibai of burning millions of Great Liang Kingdom's common people, suggesting he was the last of the thirteen Arsonists.

In Liuxian Town, Zhao Linglong wandered alone while Dugu Qingxiao went to confirm leads about Xu Taiping. An old man found her and revealed that Xu Taiping had sent him, bringing a Dragon-Slaying Stele that could determine whether Xu Taiping returned to the world.

• Lu Sibai and Dugu Qingxiao clashed over the accusation that Lu Sibai was one of the thirteen Arsonists, but Huang Que intervened before they fought.
• Dugu Qingxiao told Zhao Linglong that new leads about Xu Taiping had arrived and went with Huang Que to the Nine Prefectures.
• Zhao Linglong ignored Wu Liang's warning, went wandering through Liuxian Town, and reflected on the Azure Profound Sect's growth and its long search for Xu Taiping.
• Zhao Linglong vowed that the Azure Profound Sect would avenge Xu Taiping on the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord.
• An old man stole Zhao Linglong's wine jar, then said Xu Taiping had sent him and planted a Dragon-Slaying Stele that could determine whether Xu Taiping returned to the world.