Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping’s poem awakened the Sixth Princess, Li Yu, and the Emperor of Wujiao Country, revealing that both were Exiled Immortals named Haitang and her husband. After the Emperor killed Ren Chong, Xu Taiping prepared to return before his clone’s game with Huang Que exposed him.

• Xu Taiping recited the opening line of a poem to the Emperor of Wujiao Country, who recognized it from his dreams and demanded the next line.
• Ren Chong’s aura surged, and he broke through Xu Taiping’s Wind Wall to attack him.
• Li Yu recited the rest of the poem, caught Ren Chong’s saber, and broke it with one hand.
• Ren Chong drew a Bone Blade and attacked Li Yu, but the Emperor struck him into a cloud of blood mist.
• Li Yu identified herself as Haitang and thanked Xu Taiping for helping unseal her and her husband.
• Xu Taiping told Li Yu he needed to return because his clone was playing a game with Huang Que.

Xu Taiping’s intervention helped the peace talks between Wujiao Country and White Tree Kingdom succeed, while Huang Que remained unaware that Xiang Nantian and Qi Haitang had awakened. At the palace banquet, Huang Que discovered the truth and endured Xiang Nantian’s teasing, while Xu Taiping asked Haitang what her journey to Wujiao Country had been about.

• Xu Taiping returned to the Great Fortune Restaurant, where he and Huang Que resumed their Go game as Xu Taiping asked Fairy Lingyue about her past.
• Tiger Guards arrived to announce that the peace talks had succeeded and invited Xu Taiping and Huang Que to a palace banquet.
• Huang Que went with Xu Taiping to the palace, wondering whether the Emperor of Wujiao Country and the Sixth Princess had awakened their past-life memories.
• Huang Que recognized Xiang Nantian at the banquet and nervously drank three cups as penance after Xiang Nantian teased him with a series of slaps.
• Xu Taiping asked Qi Haitang what her trip to Wujiao Country had been about.

Qi Haitang told Xu Taiping how Qi Luoyu and several powers of the Nine Prefectures had trapped her and Xiang Nantian across seven reincarnations to seize Third Watch Observatory’s legacy. After the couple planned their revenge and urged Xu Taiping to return to the Azure Profound Sect, Xiang Nantian offered him the half Teleportation Token in his Treasury.

• Qi Haitang explained that she and Xiang Nantian had left Third Watch Observatory, become Dao Companions, and been hunted after rumors spread that they held its true legacy.
• Qi Haitang said that she and Xiang Nantian had chosen Liberation by Violence to keep searching for their missing observatory master, but Qi Luoyu had joined forces with great sects to make them kill each other and surrender the legacy.
• Qi Haitang revealed that this was her seventh reincarnation and credited Xu Taiping with saving her Dao Heart and divine soul.
• Xiang Nantian joined Qi Haitang and said they would conceal their awakening for three to five days before seeking revenge on Qi Luoyu and her allies.
• Xiang Nantian told Xu Taiping that he had a half Teleportation Token in his Treasury and offered to give it to him.

Xu Taiping received the other half of the Teleportation Token and a promise that Haitang and Xiang Nantian would protect him once in the future. After arranging a message for the Azure Profound Sect and taking some treasury treasures, he returned to Lion Slope with Elder Yun Ye, leaving his mission’s outcome unexplained for now.

• Xiang Nantian gave Xu Taiping the other half of the Teleportation Token, and he and Haitang each bound themselves to protect Xu Taiping once if he faced trouble.
• Haitang and Xiang Nantian sent Xu Taiping a talisman for the Azure Profound Sect, advising him to conceal their awakening and the breaking of their Dao Seals.
• Xu Taiping told Haitang and Xiang Nantian that he respected their adherence to their Dao Hearts, and they recalled that Su Chan had once said the same thing.
• Haitang and Xiang Nantian let Xu Taiping take as much gold and silver from the treasury as he wanted.
• Elder Yun Ye arrived at Lion Slope and brought Xu Taiping back, assuming he had failed his assignment; Xu Taiping decided to explain the matter at the Merit Hall.

Xu Taiping brought his training token to Merit Hall, where Elder Lu accused him of lying about the Sixth Princess’s fate. Xu Taiping insisted she was alive and agreed to face the Inquiry of the Heart Mirror as the elders prepared to test him.

• Xu Taiping presented the jade bracelet token to Elder Sun and said the Sixth Princess of White Tree Kingdom had given it to him.
• Elder Lu arrived and questioned Xu Taiping about the bracelet, then accused him of taking it from the princess before she died.
• Elder Lu showed Xu Taiping the bronze mirror’s report that the princess had died during an assassination attempt in Wujiao Country and that his mission had failed.
• Xu Taiping suspected the sect’s upper ranks had concealed their involvement in the Dao Strife and chose not to reveal Haitang’s proof yet.
• Elder Lu challenged Xu Taiping to repeat his claim before the Inquiry of the Heart Mirror, and Xu Taiping agreed.

Xu Taiping faced accusations of falsely claiming merit, while Zhao Qian and Qingxiao defended him against Lu Zimu and Jin Yue. As Zhao Qian prepared to take him back to Seventh Peak despite the threat of disqualification, Xu Taiping decided to reveal that the Sixth Princess was still alive.

• Elder Sun warned Xu Taiping that a failed Inquiry of the Heart Mirror could lead to punishment for him and Seventh Peak, but Xu Taiping agreed to proceed and asked what redress Lu Zimu would offer if he was truthful.
• Zhao Qian and Qingxiao arrived at Merit Hall, and Zhao Qian demanded that Lu Zimu answer for slandering Xu Taiping before trying to take Xu Taiping back to Seventh Peak.
• Jin Yue arrived and accused Xu Taiping of lying about the White Tree Kingdom mission, then proposed summoning the Inquiry of the Heart Mirror.
• Zhao Qian refused the inquiry and said he would take Xu Taiping away, while Jin Yue threatened to remove Seventh Peak from the Seven Peaks Grand Competition.
• Xu Taiping decided to protect Seventh Peak's chance to compete and told Zhao Qian that the Sixth Princess was still alive.

Xu Taiping faced the Inquiry of the Heart Mirror in Merit Hall to prove his claims about rescuing the Sixth Princess of White Tree Kingdom. The mirror confirmed his answers, leaving Jin Yue and Lu Zimu unable to accuse him of violating either sect rules or the Nine Prefectures Statutes.

• Zhao Qian wagered that Xu Taiping’s merit would be doubled if the mirror proved him truthful, while Jin Yue and Lu Zimu promised to pay and apologize.
• Xu Taiping told the Inquiry of the Heart Mirror that he had not broken sect rules and that the Sixth Princess had personally given him half a jade bracelet.
• Xu Taiping affirmed that he had brought the Sixth Princess alive out of Wujiao Country’s imperial palace, and the mirror confirmed his answer.
• Jin Yue suggested Xu Taiping might have violated the Nine Prefectures Statutes, but Xu Taiping denied it and named Huang Que as his witness.
• The mirror showed no sign of deception, and Jin Yue and Lu Zimu looked exceedingly displeased.

Xu Taiping proved that Qi Haitang and Xiang Nantian had broken their seals, forcing Jin Yue and Elder Lu to back down. After learning Liu Zijin had been imprisoned for nearly killing Lu Chen while avenging her sister, Xu Taiping asked Qingxiao to arrange a meeting with her.

• Xu Taiping revealed that the Sixth Princess and the Emperor of Wujiao Country had awakened their memories as Qi Haitang and Xiang Nantian.
• Xu Taiping presented Qi Haitang’s Sound Transmission Talisman, whose warning and oppressive might convinced the Merit Hall that his account was true.
• Zhao Qian confronted Jin Yue and Elder Lu, and Elder Lu apologized to Xu Taiping for failing to investigate properly.
• Qingxiao told Xu Taiping that Liu Zijin had been imprisoned at Face-Wall Cliff for severely wounding Lu Chen while avenging her elder sister.
• Xu Taiping asked Qingxiao to arrange a meeting with Liu Zijin before she was expelled from Cloud Cottage Mountain.

Xu Taiping visited Liu Zijin at Repentance Cliff and urged her to keep living despite her shattered Qi Mansion and despair over failing to avenge Liu Qingmei. Liu Zijin began to consider his words, but her reaction to Xu Taiping left the conversation unfinished.

• Qingxiao let Xu Taiping visit Liu Zijin and warned him that she had been refusing food.
• Xu Taiping found Liu Zijin in a cave at Repentance Cliff and learned she had tried to torture Lu Chen after the Seven Discipline Hall's laws offered him only expulsion.
• Liu Zijin said her punishment of Lu Chen had not compared to what Liu Qingmei suffered, and Xu Taiping agreed.
• Xu Taiping challenged Liu Zijin not to die while Lu Chen remained alive and urged her to eat and wait for Heaven to deal with the wicked.
• Liu Zijin reacted nervously as if she had recognized something about Xu Taiping, but he interrupted her and offered her a bowl of rice.

Xu Taiping encouraged Liu Zijin to eat and decided he would kill Lu Chen so he could find peace. After learning where Lu Chen was staying, Xu Taiping prepared to pursue him while also agreeing to join the Seven Peaks Grand Competition sword formation contest.

• Xu Taiping reminded Liu Zijin that she had once helped save his life, and she agreed to eat despite her grief.
• Xu Taiping told Fairy Lingyue that he intended to slay Lu Chen, then learned from Qingxiao that Lu Chen was likely staying under the South Nether Pavilion's jurisdiction.
• Qingxiao invited Xu Taiping to join the sword formation contest, and Xu Taiping agreed despite not knowing swordsmanship.
• Bai Yu returned to Moon Perching Pavilion and revealed that Lu Chen was staying at Wind-Howling Mountain Villa on Crane Crossing Ridge.
• Bai Yu warned Xu Taiping that Lu Chen had two demonic beasts near demon king rank guarding him.

Xu Taiping successfully performed the Earth Fruit’s third Seed Burning transformation using his Red Crow Golden Flame, though the magic artifact Pill Furnace shattered in the process. He discovered the transformed fruit was bamboo rice, and Fairy Lingyue began explaining what its seeds could nurture.

• Xu Taiping and Bai Yu discussed the difficulty of dealing with Lu Chen, whose cultivation might not have been crippled and who had two King-Level Demon Beasts guarding him.
• Fairy Lingyue stopped Xu Taiping from leaving to cultivate and told him to perform Seed Burning on the Earth Fruit.
• Xu Taiping used his Red Crow Golden Flame to burn the gourd vine in the magic artifact Pill Furnace, successfully completing the third Seed Burning as the furnace broke apart.
• Xu Taiping found a nut-shaped grain in the ashes, and Fairy Lingyue identified it as bamboo rice.

Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue planted two bamboo rice grains in Moon Perching Pavilion’s central courtyard, then received a letter from the Seventh Peak’s Peak Lord arranging for Xu Taiping to study swordsmanship with Elder Sansan. The chapter ended with Xu Taiping wondering who the mysterious elder was.

• Xu Taiping refused to give Fairy Lingyue his share of the bamboo rice, honoring their agreement to divide the Earth Fruit’s harvest fairly.
• Xu Taiping and Fairy Lingyue planted the two bamboo rice grains in the courtyard’s bamboo grove and discussed the weapons and other nourishment they would provide.
• Fairy Lingyue warned Xu Taiping that she would soon sleep inside the Earth Fruit, while he assured her he could rely on Taiping, Bai Yu, and his Seventh Peak senior brothers.
• An immortal crane delivered a letter from the Peak Lord instructing Xu Taiping to meet Elder Sansan at Moon-Fishing Pool at dawn for sword practice.
• Xu Taiping read that Elder Sansan’s swordsmanship rivaled Ninth Uncle’s and wondered why he had never heard of him.

Xu Taiping went to Moon-Fishing Pool to meet Elder Sansan, but found only a sign with instructions for practicing Sword Flight. He completed the day’s training, while Recluse Sansan later judged his effort insufficient and decided to return the next day.

• Xu Taiping arrived at Moon-Fishing Pool at dawn, but Elder Sansan did not appear.
• Xu Taiping found Recluse Sansan’s wooden sign, removed the rusty sword, and read the Sword Flight mind method.
• Xu Taiping practiced controlling the sword, repeatedly retrieving it from the pool whenever it fell, and completed three thousand and one strikes before nightfall.
• Recluse Sansan arrived after Xu Taiping left, counted the strikes, criticized his effort, and said he would return the next day.

Xu Taiping increased his daily sword strikes while Elder Sansan repeatedly missed him at Moon-Fishing Pool. When Xu Taiping skipped practice to answer an urgent summons, Elder Sansan found his note and angrily blamed Zhao Qian.

• Xu Taiping increased his sword strikes over several days, reaching 6,700 while leaving Moon-Fishing Pool earlier each day, and Elder Sansan failed to meet him.
• Elder Sansan arrived before dawn on the tenth day and waited at Moon-Fishing Pool, planning how to punish Xu Taiping for being late.
• Xu Taiping finished cultivating in Fan Tower after soaking in the Acupoint-Clearing and Aperture-Opening Decoction, and estimated he would reach minor completion in the Nether Gazing Realm within a month or two.
• Little Monkey Ping'an brought Xu Taiping an urgent letter, and Xu Taiping learned that the Peak Lord had summoned him to Hundred Herbs Hall on the Main Peak.
• Elder Sansan found Xu Taiping's note on the cliff explaining his absence, then shouted that Zhao Qian was asking for another beating.

Xu Taiping went to Hundred Herbs Hall after learning that Zhou Yidao had been badly wounded by a mysterious blade qi. The Seventh Peak's disciples gathered to hear what had happened, and Jiang Zhi began to ask whether they had heard rumors of the Red-Haired Blade Ghost.

• Little Monkey Ping'an delivered Xu Taiping a letter from the Seventh Peak Lord saying that Fourth Senior Brother had been slashed and summoning everyone not in seclusion to Hundred Herbs Hall.
• Xu Taiping left Bai Yu and Ping'an to guard the courtyard, then carved a message for Elder Sansan before heading to the hall.
• At Hundred Herbs Hall, Xu Taiping found Zhou Yidao unconscious with a chest wound whose blade qi was draining his true qi and blood qi.
• Qingxiao told the disciples that patrols had found Zhou Yidao gravely wounded on Purple Cloud Slope and that Doctor Liu and Zhao Qian had saved him.
• When the disciples wondered whether a demon had attacked Zhou Yidao, Jiang Zhi asked if they had heard rumors of the Red-Haired Blade Ghost.

Jiang Zhi and Qingxiao told the disciples that Fourth Senior Brother had been gravely injured by the Red-Haired Blade Ghost, and Zhao Qian warned them to stay inside at night. Xu Taiping was assigned to replace Fourth in the Seven Peaks Grand Competition, but after returning to Moon Perching Pavilion that evening, he heard Ping'an cry that there was a ghost outside.

• Jiang Zhi and Qingxiao explained that the Red-Haired Blade Ghost had attacked Fourth Senior Brother and was rumored to be searching for something.
• Zhao Qian warned the disciples, especially sabre users like Xu Taiping, to avoid going out at night while he consulted the other Peak Lords.
• Zhao Qian asked Xu Taiping to replace Fourth Senior Brother in the endurance event at the Seven Peaks Grand Competition, and Qingxiao agreed to explain its rules.
• Xu Taiping promised to stay at Moon Perching Pavilion at night, then went to Moon-Fishing Pool to practice his sword before returning after dark.
• Ping'an clung to Xu Taiping and warned him that there was a ghost outside.

Xu Taiping continued his cultivation and improved his Sword Flight Art while the Red-Haired Blade Ghost stayed away. On the eve of the Seven Peaks Grand Competition, Recluse Sansan learned that Xu Taiping would miss a day of practice to attend.

• Bai Yu told Xu Taiping that the Red-Haired Blade Ghost had watched the Moon Perching Pavilion gate, and recounted the ghost’s origins and its habit of targeting saber users.
• Fairy Lingyue carved a Celestial Master Pure Yang Talisman onto the pavilion signboard and suspected the Blade Ghost was a saber cultivator’s obsession that could serve as a whetstone for Xu Taiping.
• Over the next seven or eight days, Xu Taiping practiced without pause, reached minor completion in the Nether Gazing Realm, and trained the Sword Flight Art by carving three thousand characters each day.
• Recluse Sansan praised Xu Taiping’s diligence after seeing his progress at Moon-Fishing Pool, then scowled when he read Xu Taiping’s request for a day off to attend the Seven Peaks Grand Competition.

Xu Taiping watched the Seven Peaks Grand Competition at Five Ancestors Pool while Zhao Linglong explained its history, rules, and the Azure Profound Sect’s decline. Xu Ziyan and Lin Buyu joined them, and the chapter ended with the group chatting before the competition.

• Recluse Sansan demonstrated how his sword could carve three thousand characters into a cliff and told Xu Taiping to master sword control before learning his swordsmanship.
• Zhao Linglong explained that the five ancestors established the Seven Peaks Grand Competition to settle disputes and described its seven rounds and rules to Xu Taiping.
• Zhao Linglong recounted how the Azure Profound Sect lost its original home and resources, then nearly fell after Su Chan entered the Demonic Path before Junior Martial Uncle returned.
• Xu Ziyan and Lin Buyu arrived and sat with Xu Taiping and Zhao Linglong at Five Ancestors Pool.
• Xu Ziyan remarked that Xu Taiping had grown taller, and Zhao Linglong observed that Lin Buyu had grown too.

Xu Taiping watched the Seven Peaks Grand Competition’s first round, Seven Dragons Seize the Pearl, begin at Five Elders Pool and learned that Seventh Peak had few sword cultivators to rely on. As the disciples gathered by their peak flags, an Immortal Crane arrived carrying the clam pearls, and the contest was about to start.

• Xu Ziyan explained that competitors would use Sword Flight to seize clam pearls and deliver them to the Five Elders’ statues, while Zhao Linglong said Seventh Peak would rely on Jiang Zhi and Dugu Qingxiao.
• Xu Taiping resolved to practice the sword so he could help his Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters at a future competition.
• Elder Black Dragon arrived at Five Elders Pool, announced the round, and summoned the disciples to their places.
• Xu Taiping noticed Haoran Peak’s flag showed a cat, and Zhao Linglong explained that it was said to have been their first Peak Lord’s Spirit Pet.
• An Immortal Crane flew over the Sword Platform carrying clam pearls, and Elder Black Dragon warned the peaks that they were about to fall.

During the Sword Platform contest, Jiang Zhi and Qingxiao fought off First Peak disciples to secure a Clam Pearl for Seventh Peak. Elder Black Dragon declared Seventh Peak the first to claim a pearl and ordered the contest to stop.

• Jiang Zhi and Qingxiao caught Clam Pearls as the contestants raced toward the Five Elders Statues.
• Jin Hezhi and Huang Qi attacked Jiang Zhi and her Third Senior Brother, knocking the Third Senior Brother into the pool.
• Yan Bing intercepted Jiang Zhi and took her Clam Pearl, but Jiang Zhi struck Jin Hezhi and Huang Qi to create an opening for Qingxiao.
• Jiang Zhi delayed Yan Bing while Qingxiao placed his Clam Pearl on a Five Elders Statue, securing the first pearl for Seventh Peak.
• Qingxiao charged at Yan Bing, and Elder Black Dragon ordered all contestants to cease competing.