Chapter Summaries

Su Chan used the Heavenly Wolf Demon God's twin birth divine power to create two bodies and attack Guanghan Palace with a powerful flaming spear. As Xu Taiping prepared to intercept it, Fairy Lingyue stopped him and told him to remember how he had felt.

• Su Chan's severed Heavenly Wolf Demon God body split into two complete bodies through its twin birth divine power.
• Fairy Lingyue swept the two bodies into a mountain range, but they emerged and charged toward Guanghan Palace again.
• Su Chan turned one body into a flaming spear, which the other hurled toward Guanghan Palace with enough power to threaten Fairy Lingyue's true domain.
• Xu Taiping prepared to draw the Water-Cutting Blade as the spear reached the palace gates, but Fairy Lingyue pressed his arm down and told him to wait.

Fairy Lingyue revealed the seven worlds within her True Domain and explained that the world holding Su Chan was its smallest and least dangerous. Su Chan escaped using the Daoist True Intent of Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell, and as Xu Taiping prepared to alert the Nine Prefectures, Su Chan threatened the Azure Profound Sect to force a deal.

• Fairy Lingyue showed Xu Taiping the full extent of her True Domain and explained that Su Chan had been trapped in its smallest world.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that her weakened body could not open the other six worlds and that using a powerful innate Divine Ability risked attracting the upper realm's attention and Heavenly Tribulation.
• Su Chan broke out of the jade bottle using the True Intent of Golden Cicada Shedding Its Shell, leaving behind a shed skin.
• Fairy Lingyue warned that Su Chan might be a new Demon Emperor capable of uniting the Nine Abysses and urged Xu Taiping to notify the Nine Prefectures.
• Su Chan threatened Senior Sister Zhao Linglong, Senior Brother Dugu Qingxiao, and the Azure Profound Sect, demanding that Xu Taiping put down the Jade Slip and meet him at Heavenly Character Number Five.

Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue confronted Su Chan’s phantom in Heavenly Character Number Five, where Fairy Lingyue checked the room for traps and Su Chan admitted he wanted to make a deal. Su Chan revealed an image of people gathered around a sickbed, leaving Xu Taiping unsettled by what he saw.

• Fairy Lingyue explained that Su Chan’s use of Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell had likely brought severe backlash that could damage his cultivation foundation.
• Fairy Lingyue entered Heavenly Character Number Five and found Su Chan’s phantom, then used “Unaffected by a Hundred Evils” to test the room for traps.
• Xu Taiping released Little Monkey Ping'an and Bai Yu to guard the doorway before entering the room.
• Su Chan said he wanted to make a deal, admitted he still intended to kill Xu Taiping if he got the chance, and Xu Taiping challenged whether he could do so.
• Su Chan snapped his fingers and produced another phantom showing a group gathered beside a sickbed, making Xu Taiping frown.

Su Chan revealed that Jiang Zhi had been replaced by Elder Mo, who had infected Azure Profound Sect disciples with a deadly Demon Seed power, and offered Xu Taiping two bargains. He demanded the Demon Seeds in Xu Taiping’s gourd to save the disciples, then required Xu Taiping to fight alone in the Sword Inquiry Trial if he wanted to save Jiang Zhi.

• Su Chan showed Xu Taiping an image of Jiang Zhi, who was secretly Elder Mo, discussing an imminent attack on the Azure Profound Sect.
• Su Chan revealed that Jiang Zhi’s soul remained sealed inside a Taotie and that he had used Branch-Folding to steal her identity and plant Elder Mo in the sect.
• Su Chan explained that Elder Mo’s Demon Seed power could kill every infected Azure Profound Sect disciple if one of them died, and Fairy Lingyue confirmed the power was real.
• Su Chan offered to have Elder Mo remove the power from the disciples if Xu Taiping returned the two Demon Seeds in his White Gourd.
• Su Chan demanded that Xu Taiping fight alone in the Sword Inquiry Trial’s final match in ten days to save Jiang Zhi, saying he wanted to watch Xu Taiping die.

Xu Taiping confronted Su Chan about why he had arranged a deadly Sword Inquiry, and Su Chan revealed that he saw Xu Taiping’s survival as an obstacle to his own Dao. Xu Taiping argued that Su Chan’s schemes were really an attempt to erase his original aspiration, giving him and Fairy Lingyue a possible lead against Su Chan’s Dao Heart.

• Fairy Lingyue warned Xu Taiping that Su Chan had replaced the Sword Inquiry’s cultivators with Demon Cultivators to kill him.
• Xu Taiping asked Su Chan why he hated him, and Su Chan said their shared origins in Qingxuan and Lü Daoxuan’s lineage meant only one of their paths could survive.
• Su Chan explained that Xu Taiping’s sword ring had split their paths and prevented him from freeing his Great Dao from its ties to the Azure Profound Sect.
• Fairy Lingyue reminded Xu Taiping of what she had taught him about cultivation, prompting him to ask Su Chan whether he remembered his original aspiration in seeking the Dao.
• Xu Taiping accused Su Chan of trying to erase his original aspiration, and Su Chan unleashed killing intent before withdrawing it and denying that he had forgotten his purpose.
• Fairy Lingyue and Xu Taiping concluded that Su Chan’s original aspiration might be a flaw in his Dao Heart, while Su Chan asked whether Xu Taiping had anything else to ask.

Xu Taiping accepted Su Chan’s wager to face his chosen demon cultivators in the Sword Inquiry, and the two sealed their terms in a Confucian Contract Deed. Nine days later, Xu Taiping had not returned, and Zhao Qian and Dugu Qingxiao feared he would miss the final Sword Inquiry.

• Xu Taiping agreed to wager his life against the Sixth Peak disciples’ lives if Su Chan released the cultivators under his branch-folding control, except Elder Mo, and kept Xu Taiping’s identity as Chu Ping'an secret until the Sword Inquiry ended.
• Fairy Lingyue wrote a Contract Deed with Confucian True Words, and Xu Taiping and Su Chan pressed their fingerprints onto it before Xu Taiping handed over Witch Su Xue’s and the Stone Demon’s Demon Seeds.
• Su Chan announced that he would meet Xu Taiping on the Sword Inquiry Platform at Heavenly Pillar Summit in ten days.
• Xu Taiping told Fairy Lingyue that he had seen a thread connecting Su Chan’s phantom to a place outside the window, giving them a lead to find Su Chan’s hiding place.
• Nine days later, Zhao Qian told Dugu Qingxiao that Linglong had survived but her cultivation would likely remain at Asking-Heaven Realm, while the Nine Prefectures still could not open the Golden Court Inner Grotto-Heaven gate.
• Zhao Qian and Dugu Qingxiao saw Xu Taiping’s name on the final Sword Inquiry list and worried that he would not return in time.

Dugu Qingxiao and Zhao Qian discussed Xu Taiping’s Sword Inquiry Token and their growing fears that the Nine Abysses would disrupt the Sword Champion Assembly. Their conversation ended when a group from the Nine Prefectures arrived at the Azure Profound Sect, claiming they had come to search for Chu Ping'an.

• Dugu Qingxiao worried that Xu Taiping would miss the final Sword Inquiry, while Zhao Qian said the token proved Xu Taiping was alive.
• Dugu Qingxiao admitted he had felt unsettled throughout the Sword Champion Assembly, and Zhao Qian revealed that Lü Daoxuan had ordered the Azure Profound Sect to seal its mountain gate for three months.
• Dugu Qingxiao suspected Lü Daoxuan had foreseen trouble, and Zhao Qian explained that the assembly’s success would strengthen the Shangqing Realm ahead of the Heaven-Demon War.
• Zhao Qian said the Nine Abysses would interfere with the assembly and agreed that it was behind the recent attacks and growing conflict between rogue cultivators and sect cultivators.
• An Azure Profound Sect disciple reported that a large group from the Nine Prefectures had arrived to search for the fugitive Chu Ping'an.

Xu Taiping arranged to obtain a Sword Inquiry Token without alerting Zhao Qian and Dugu Qingxiao, but Ping'an had to hide when they returned. Hearing that his old companions still believed in him, Xu Taiping resolved to fight for them as the Sword Inquiry began.

• Ping'an secretly stole the Sword Inquiry Token from the Sect Master's room using his transformation arts, but returned it and hid when Zhao Qian and Dugu Qingxiao came back.
• Xu Taiping decided not to meet Zhao Qian and Dugu Qingxiao before the contest, fearing their presence would affect his resolve and they would stop him from entering.
• Ping'an reported that Zhao Qian had kept Xu Taiping's token because he believed Xu Taiping would return in time for the Sword Inquiry.
• Xu Taiping was moved to learn that his companions were thinking of him and vowed that no one would take them from him as long as he could fight.
• The next day, the mountain-guarding elder summoned the thirty cultivators of the Heavenly Sword Group onto the Sword Platform.

Mu Yuchen learned why Xu Taiping had received a Sword Inquiry Token despite his stalled cultivation: True Martial Heaven and the Nine Prefectures were willing to wait for him. When Xu Taiping's name was called, spectators across the Five Heavens turned toward the Sword Platform.

• Mu Yuchen questioned Mu Yun about the unusual crowd and scanned the Sword Inquiry Cultivators list.
• Mu Yuchen spotted Xu Taiping's name, and Mu Yun explained that Zhao Qian had petitioned the Nine Prefectures for his token.
• Mu Yun told Mu Yuchen that most spectators were from True Martial Heaven and were willing to wait for Xu Taiping.
• Cultivators from True Martial Heaven defended Xu Taiping's token and recalled how his deeds had benefited them.
• The mountain-guarding elder called Xu Taiping of the Azure Profound Sect, and the crowd fell silent and turned toward the Sword Platform.

Dugu Qingxiao and the Azure Profound Sect disciples waited for Xu Taiping to appear at the Sword Champion Assembly, while Zhao Qian revealed that Xu Taiping had not collected his Sword Inquiry Token. After Xu Taiping failed to arrive, Fu Yuan announced that his name would be removed from the Sword Chief Ranking, which then unfurled above the Sword Platform.

• Dugu Qingxiao reassured Liang Zhu that Xu Taiping's name on the Sword Chief Ranking meant his life was not in danger.
• Zhao Qian joined the stands and told Dugu Qingxiao that Zhao Linglong's condition had improved slightly.
• Zhao Qian placed Xu Taiping's unclaimed Sword Inquiry Token on the table, confirming that Xu Taiping had not arrived.
• Fu Yuan called for Xu Taiping, but Xu Taiping did not appear.
• Fu Yuan announced that Xu Taiping's name would be removed from the Sword Chief Ranking, and the ranking unfurled above the Sword Platform.

As Elder Fu Yuan began removing Xu Taiping’s name from the Sword Chief Ranking, Azure Profound Sect disciples and spectators pleaded for more time, but Prefect Liu Chuxuan refused to postpone the sword inquiry. Just as Xu Taiping’s name was about to be cleaved apart, a young cultivator resembling him forced his way into the Sword Platform.

• Liang Zhu and the Azure Profound Sect disciples asked Elder Fu Yuan to wait, while Sect Master Zhao Qian and the Peak Lords shielded them from the stands’ restrictions.
• Elder Fu Yuan asked Prefect Liu Chuxuan whether to postpone the sword inquiry, but Liu Chuxuan told him to continue.
• Fu Yuan resumed cutting Xu Taiping’s name from the Sword Chief Ranking as the spectators watched regretfully.
• A young cultivator resembling Xu Taiping knocked aside the guards at the Sword Platform entrance and broke Fu Yuan’s gang wind barrier with a single saber slash.

Xu Taiping arrived at the Sword Inquiry and reunited with the Azure Profound Sect and other old acquaintances. Remembering those who died at Golden Court Grotto-Heaven, he claimed the contest as his own Sword Champion Assembly, and the Sword Chief Ranking blazed with his name.

• Xu Taiping announced himself to Fu Yuan and landed on the Sword Platform, stunning the stands.
• Dugu Qingxiao and Zhao Qian recognized Xu Taiping, welcomed him home, and the Azure Profound Sect disciples celebrated his return.
• Mu Yun discussed Great Elder Lou’s death with Mu Yuchen before welcoming Xuanzhi, Dongfang Yuejian, Zhang Moyan, and Chu Tiancheng into the Guangling Pavilion room.
• Xu Taiping greeted his old acquaintances and remembered the elders who died at Golden Court Grotto-Heaven.
• Xu Taiping declared that he would face the twenty-nine opponents and become his own Sword Champion, causing his name on the Sword Chief Ranking to shine brighter than the rest.

Xu Taiping presented his Sword Inquiry Token, and the Sword Chief Ranking confirmed his identity and record. The ranking then selected Jia Sheng of Luo Yan Hall from Chenglong Heaven as the first Sword Inquiry cultivator.

• Xu Taiping caught Sect Master Zhao Qian’s Flying Sword Talisman barehanded and handed the Sword Inquiry Token to Elder Fu Yuan for verification.
• Mu Yun observed that Xu Taiping had caught the talisman without any visible qi and blood fluctuation, indicating finer control of his body-tempering power.
• The Sword Chief Ranking displayed three Sword Inquiries and one halted conflict beside Xu Taiping’s name, reassuring Zhao Qian and Dugu Qingxiao that he had returned.
• Elder Fu Yuan announced that the Sword Chief Ranking would choose the first Sword Inquiry cultivator.
• The ranking selected Jia Sheng of Luo Yan Hall from Chenglong Heaven, and Mu Yun asked Dongfang Yuejian whether she knew him.

Jia Sheng of Luo Yan Hall challenged Xu Taiping of the Azure Profound Sect to Sword Inquiry, drawing an uproar from the crowd. Xu Taiping accepted, leaving the two cultivators poised to begin their match.

• Dongfang Yuejian identified Jia Sheng as an ordinary disciple whose cultivation was likely at Great Perfection of the Looking-to-Heaven Realm.
• Jia Sheng stepped onto the Sword Platform and chose Xu Taiping as his Sword Inquiry opponent.
• Mu Yun, Zhang Moyan, and Chu Tiancheng discussed the challenge, while Dugu Qingxiao argued that Xu Taiping had not shown his full strength.
• Xu Taiping leaped onto the Sword Platform, paid his respects to Elder Fu Yuan, and accepted Jia Sheng's challenge.

Xu Taiping began his Sword Inquiry against Jia Sheng, using Hidden Immortal Wine to restore his strength and preparing to release the Seven Soul Seals’ suppression. As the duel was about to begin, Xu Taiping recognized that Jia Sheng was a demon summoned by Su Chan, and his aura surged.

• Dongfang Yuejian and the others worried that Xu Taiping would struggle to win because the Sword Inquiry limited the use of strategies and treasures.
• Xu Taiping drank Hidden Immortal Wine and confirmed that the Sword Chief Ranking allowed it to restore his strength.
• Mountain-Guarding Elder Fu Yuan announced the Sword Inquiry between Jia Sheng of Luoyan Hall and Xu Taiping of the Azure Profound Sect, and the first bell rang.
• Jia Sheng summoned his antique flying sword with intense hostility, leaving the onlookers wondering whether he and Xu Taiping had a grudge.
• Xu Taiping recognized Jia Sheng as a demon summoned by Su Chan and began releasing the Seven Soul Seals’ suppression, causing his aura to surge.

Xu Taiping fought Jia Sheng, whose Shadow-Chasing Sword and Heaven and Earth Manifestation repeatedly battered him. As Jia Sheng prepared another attack, Xu Taiping’s suppressed power rose to sixty percent, and he faced the Dharma Aspect with a volcanic surge of aura.

• Xu Taiping opened his Blade Domain, shattered Jia Sheng’s flying sword’s Sword Intent, and knocked the sword to the ground.
• Jia Sheng used the Shadow-Chasing Sword to exchange places with his flying sword, then summoned a hundred-zhang Dharma Aspect with Heaven and Earth Manifestation.
• Jia Sheng combined the Dharma Aspect’s power with his flying sword’s position swaps to break through Xu Taiping’s domain and repeatedly slam and punch him.
• Xu Taiping rammed the Dharma Aspect away and continued fighting, while the onlookers wondered how Jia Sheng could wield such strength.
• Xu Taiping recognized that a second contraction of his heart and dantian had raised his suppressed True Essence and qi and blood to sixty percent.
• Jia Sheng’s Dharma Aspect appeared before Xu Taiping as Xu Taiping’s aura erupted, and alarm flickered in the Dharma Aspect’s eyes.

Xu Taiping used a Mysterious Origin Avatar to absorb Jia Sheng's immobilizing true intent, then severed Jia Sheng's Dharma Aspect's arm with a blade coated in Origin Returning True Fire. As Jia Sheng launched a sword attack, Xu Taiping's aura surged and his punch shattered the sword shadow and cracked the flying sword.

• Jia Sheng's Dharma Aspect struck Xu Taiping with a fist that trapped him in place, but Xu Taiping's Mysterious Origin Avatar took the attack.
• Xu Taiping coated his blade in Golden Flame and severed Jia Sheng's Dharma Aspect's arm.
• Zhang Moyan identified the Golden Flame as Origin Returning True Fire fused from Geng Metal and true fire.
• Jia Sheng sent his flying sword at Xu Taiping in a combined attack infused with sword intent, sword will, sword gang, and mountain spirit power.
• Xu Taiping's aura surged, and his second figure shattered Jia Sheng's sword shadow with a Baxia strike, cracking the flying sword.

Xu Taiping fought Jia Sheng as Jia Sheng summoned a Red-Armored Ancestor and the Red Sky Sword to overwhelm him. When Zhao Qian learned that Luo Yan Hall believed the fighter was an impostor and tried to stop the Sword Inquiry, Xu Taiping unleashed aura fluctuations comparable to Heaven Gazing Realm Great Completion.

• Mu Yun, Mu Yuchen, Zhang Moyan, and Monk Xuanzhi discussed Xu Taiping's Martial Dao strength after he shattered Jia Sheng's Sword Shadow.
• Jia Sheng summoned a Red-Armored Ancestor whose aura rose to Heaven Gazing Realm Intermediate Achievement, then attacked Xu Taiping with tens of thousands of Sword Shadows.
• Jia Sheng's ancestor began drawing the Red Sky Sword from the heavens, and Xu Taiping used his Bull Demon Phantom and Azure Luan Ring to withstand the attack.
• Dongfang Yuejian identified the Red Sky Sword as Luo Yan Hall's inherited sword-forging Origin Law, while Dugu Qingxiao and Zhao Qian questioned Jia Sheng's use of the forbidden Ancestor-Borrowing Power.
• Luo Yan Hall's Hall Master warned Zhao Qian that the Jia Sheng on the Sword Platform was an impostor and urged him to stop the Sword Inquiry.
• Xu Taiping scattered the Sword Shadows with Blade Qi Thunderclap, revealing aura fluctuations comparable to Heaven Gazing Realm Great Completion despite his Spirit Refining Realm cultivation.

Xu Taiping defeated Jia Sheng in the Sword Inquiry by shattering his Dharma Aspect and Red Sky Sword with a punch, then knocking him off the Sword Platform. As the victory stirred astonishment among the spectators, the Old Palace Master of the Three Sovereigns Dao Palace recognized Xu Taiping’s name and prepared to investigate why it seemed familiar.

• Xu Taiping used Great Sage Fist: Baxia Form to break Jia Sheng’s Dharma Aspect and the Red Sky Sword, then struck Jia Sheng off the Sword Platform.
• Zhao Qian, Dugu Qingxiao, Mu Yuchen, and others questioned whether Xu Taiping had broken through to the Heaven Gazing Realm, while Zhang Moyan noted that powerful martial artists could deliver such a punch.
• Xu Taiping reflected on the limits of his still-sealed power and said surviving the Sword Inquiry remained uncertain.
• Elder Fu Yuan declared Xu Taiping the winner, and the crowd at Heavenly Pillar Peak reacted with astonishment.
• The Old Palace Master of the Three Sovereigns Dao Palace recognized Xu Taiping’s name, rejected Yun Shiliu’s explanation, and took out a jade disc to investigate his familiarity.

The Old Palace Master sensed a Heavenly Dao Calamity in True Martial Heaven and sent Yun Shiliu to Mount Taiyue with an emergency teleportation scroll. Meanwhile, rumors spread that Xu Taiping had turned to demonic cultivation, and Yu Dan challenged him on the Sword Platform, calling him a demonic beast.

• The Old Palace Master detected heavenly might gathering above the pavilion and told Yun Shiliu to travel to the Mount Taiyue Immortal Abode in True Martial Heaven.
• The Old Palace Master gave Yun Shiliu an immortal treasure-grade Teleportation Scroll before disappearing as the cloud vortex dispersed.
• Cultivators watching the Sword Inquiry began suspecting Xu Taiping had planted a Nine Abysses Demon Seed, while Zhao Qian and Xu Taiping’s companions chose not to interrupt his match.
• Elder Fu Yuan announced Yu Dan of Seven Star Tower as the next Sword Inquiry cultivator.
• Yu Dan pointed his sword at Xu Taiping and challenged him, accusing him of being a demonic beast.