Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping admitted that he had spent his missing years in the Demon Grotto with the seniors who later died, then used the Treading the Sea Army’s stele to reveal a scene from its distant past. The projection showed the army’s final charge against a Primordial Lord, ending with the Old General charging alone.

• Xu Taiping said he had soaked in Meridian-Transforming Marrow-Cleansing Soup seven times, astonishing Zhao Qian and the Mysterious Female True Lord.
• Mu Yuchen and Chu Yinan accused Xu Taiping of being involved in the deaths of Great Elder Lou, Sword Immortal Qionghua, and the others, and Xu Taiping admitted he had been in the Demon Grotto with them.
• Xu Taiping said the battle there had lasted at least three hundred thousand years and activated the Treading the Sea Army’s stele with a Moonshadow Stone Mother Stone.
• The projection showed the Treading the Sea Army facing a Primordial Lord as the Old General commanded repeated charges.
• After the army was wiped out, the Old General raised the Battle Banner and charged the Primordial Lord alone.

Xu Taiping showed evidence of an ancient battle and revealed that the Tenth Demon Abyss had once descended upon the Shangqing Realm. After Mu Zhixing demanded proof, Xu Taiping played Cloud Crane True Lord’s Divine Soul Mark, whose warning ended by saying their group would likely be dead by the time anyone saw it.

• The projection showed the Old General being destroyed and the Primordial Lord shrinking into a tree, but many viewers accused Xu Taiping of fabricating the scene.
• Mysterious Female True Lord recalled an Ancient People tribe that honored the Treading the Sea Banner army, which had perished fighting a Demon Dragon at least two hundred thousand years earlier.
• Xu Taiping said the scene marked the beginning of events and revealed that the Tenth Demon Abyss had descended upon the Shangqing Realm roughly three hundred thousand years ago.
• Mu Yuchen challenged Xu Taiping’s claim, but Mu Zhixing appeared and demanded evidence that Xu Taiping had encountered the Tenth Demon Abyss’s Primordial Lord.
• Xu Taiping played Cloud Crane True Lord’s Divine Soul Mark, showing Cloud Crane True Lord alongside Xu Taiping, Azure-Eyed Evil Lord, Great Elder Lou, and Pearl Relic House Master before warning that they would likely all be dead.

Cloud Crane True Lord revealed that Xu Taiping had led the Treading the Sea Army’s phantoms to defeat the Skeleton Demonic Soldiers and explained the generations-long fight against the Primordial Lord. Xu Taiping then showed how Great Elder Lou died holding the Bodhi Mirror Lamp in the Third-Level Barrier, and Lou Shiyi’s final words played from the stele.

• Cloud Crane True Lord showed an image of Xu Taiping leading tens of thousands of phantom Treading the Sea Army soldiers in a charge that broke the Skeleton Demonic Soldiers’ formation.
• Mu Yuchen rejected the implication that Xu Taiping was the youth in the image, but Mu Zhixing rebuked her and Mu Yun explained that the scene could not have been fabricated.
• Cloud Crane True Lord revealed that the Ten Abysses had planted a demon seed in the Golden Court Inner Grotto-Heaven and that generations of Demon-Slaying Cultivators had worked to restrain the Primordial Lord.
• Cloud Crane True Lord urged the cultivators to remember the dead if the mission succeeded and to flee the Shangqing Realm if it failed.
• Mu Zhixing and Mysterious Female True Lord asked Xu Taiping what happened after Cloud Crane True Lord’s account and why he alone had returned.
• Xu Taiping revealed that Great Elder Lou had exhausted himself holding the Bodhi Mirror Lamp against thirty thousand Skeleton Soldiers, and Lou Shiyi’s final words played from the Treading the Sea Army Stone Stele.

Xu Taiping revealed Great Elder Lou’s final message and the events surrounding the battle against the Primordial Lord, earning the Mu siblings’ apology and a Path-Guarding Token. He concealed his own role in the battle and asked Fairy Lingyue whether Su Chan could now release the captives.

• Great Elder Lou’s Divine Soul Mark delivered his final advice and affectionate farewells to Mu Yun and Mu Yuchen, leaving them grieving.
• Mu Yun apologized to Xu Taiping and offered him a Guangling Pavilion Path-Guarding Token, which Mu Yuchen insisted he accept.
• Xu Taiping revealed the Divine Soul Marks of Cloud Crane True Lord, the Pearl Relic House Master, and the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord, while concealing his own role in defeating the Primordial Lord.
• Xu Taiping presented the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord as the hero who defeated the Primordial Lord and saved the Shangqing Realm, prompting shame among those who had accused him.
• Xu Taiping privately asked Fairy Lingyue whether Su Chan could now release the captives.

Xu Taiping confirmed that Su Chan had released the Branch-Folding Power, while Fairy Lingyue subdued Su Chan and discovered he had invoked the Nine Abysses Demon Mother's Jade Edict. The edict descended upon True Martial Heaven and declared that the Heaven-Demon War would begin there.

• Xu Taiping saw the Sword Inquiry Cultivators awaken after the Branch-Folding Power was released and told Fairy Lingyue.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping she had subdued Su Chan but asked him to keep the matter secret while she investigated.
• Su Chan showed Fairy Lingyue a vision of water drops striking the Cease War Stele and admitted he had invoked the Demon Mother's Jade Edict.
• The Cease War Stele was pierced, plunging True Martial Heaven into darkness as golden hands unfurled an edict across the sky.
• The Jade Mother’s voice declared that the Heaven-Demon War had begun anew and named True Martial Heaven as its battlefield.

The Nine Abysses Demon Mother's Jade Edict forced True Martial Heaven to accept a Heaven-Demon War, killing anyone who questioned it or tried to flee. As the realm's leaders faced the choice between receiving the decree and mass destruction, the golden hand struck again and slaughtered an entire stand.

• Fairy Lingyue warned Xu Taiping that Su Chan had used a diversion to begin the Heaven-Demon War early and that defying the Jade Edict meant certain death.
• Cultivators who cursed the decree or tried to flee had their heads and primordial spirits destroyed, so Xu Taiping urged everyone to remain seated and calm their minds.
• Sect Master Zhao Qian and Prefect Liu Chuxuan recognized the Demon Mother's Edict, while messages revealed that people elsewhere were dying and all teleportation arrays in True Martial Heaven had stopped working.
• The Demon Mother's voice threatened to destroy every living being in True Martial Heaven unless its Immortal Mansions received the decree, leaving Prefect Liu Chuxuan facing an impossible choice.
• A golden hand slammed down toward the Sword Platform, and every cultivator in a Cloud Tower stand west of it had their heads burst apart.

Xu Taiping urged Liu Chuxuan to use the Sword Chief Ranking to resist the Demon Mother's Jade Edict, turning the impending war into a series of contests. The first contest began with Xu Taiping named to face the Nine Abysses' Su Chan in Sword Inquiry.

• Xu Taiping asked Liu Chuxuan whether he could wield the Sword Chief Ranking and explained that its Heavenly Dao Edict might oppose the Demon Mother's Jade Edict.
• Liu Chuxuan swung the Dahei Banner, and the Sword Chief Ranking became a banner that partly countered the golden hand and changed the Sword Champion Assembly's rules.
• The Demon Mother decreed that the Nine Abysses Ten Demons would challenge True Martial Heaven in Sword Inquiry, with defeat triggering war, and announced three Heaven-Demon Contests.
• Mu Zhixing explained that the Sword Chief Ranking had divided the impending war into three trials, and Liu Chuxuan received the Demon Mother's edict.
• The Jade Decree named Su Chan as the Nine Abysses' challenger, and the Sword Chief Ranking named Xu Taiping as True Martial Heaven's challenger.

Su Chan revealed that he had planned to exploit the clash between the Demon Mother's Edict and Zhenwu's Heavenly Dao Edict, but Fairy Lingyue’s presence thwarted his scheme. The Demon Mother's proclamation summoned Madam Yu, who terrorized the Sword Platform as Xu Taiping and the others restrained themselves ahead of the Sword Inquiry.

• Su Chan told Fairy Lingyue that he had hoped to use the edicts’ clash to kill Xu Taiping, then recognized that she was a half-immortal and escaped being killed by her.
• The Demon Mother's proclamation summoned Madam Yu, the Demon Emperor of the Second Demon Abyss, who appeared naked and pulled a bloodied outfit and human skin from the stands.
• Sword cultivators attacked Madam Yu over the flaying of an innocent young woman, but the Demon Mother's Jade Edict stopped their sword lights.
• Fairy Lingyue warned Xu Taiping not to act rashly, and he agreed to repay the humiliation during the Sword Inquiry.
• Liu Chuxuan ordered treatment for the injured woman and maximum defenses at Heavenly Pillar Peak, while Xu Taiping confirmed to Zhao Qian that Su Chan had been in Liuxian Town and was connected to the Demon Mother's Edict.
• Xu Taiping asked Fairy Lingyue how much he could reveal about her to Zhao Qian, and she told him to use his judgment about everything except the Earth Fruit.

Xu Taiping told Sect Master Zhao Qian about Su Chan’s threat and reaffirmed his resolve to fight for Zhenwu, then reunited with Dugu Qingxiao as the sword challengers were announced. The Nine Abysses named a lineup of powerful Demon Emperors, ending with the shocking appearance of Sword Fiend as its tenth challenger.

• Xu Taiping told Zhao Qian about meeting Sword Immortal Qionghua’s divine soul and uncovering Su Chan’s plot, then said he was fortunate to draw his sword for Zhenwu.
• The Sword Chief Ranking named Dugu Qingxiao as Zhenwu’s second challenger, and he joined Xu Taiping on the Sword Platform, ready to fight beside him.
• The Nine Abysses announced seven Demon Emperors as challengers, including pure demon seeds whose origins alarmed the Mysterious Female True Lord, Mu Zhixing, and Mu Yun.
• The Nine Abysses named Demon Emperor Sword Fiend as its tenth challenger, leaving Liu Chuxuan stunned and asking why Senior Sword Fiend had done this.

The Sword Chief Ranking named Zhenwu’s nine sword challengers to face the Nine Abysses, prompting outrage over the inclusion of the seemingly weak Liu Gu and Qi Po. The two youths appeared on the Sword Platform without fear, as the challenge approached.

• Mu Zhixing and the Mysterious Female True Lord described Sword Fiend’s demonic origins and terrifying potential after he appeared beneath the Demon Mother’s Edict.
• The Sword Chief Ranking struck the Mysterious Female True Lord with its power when he insulted the True Martial Great Emperor, and Liu Chuxuan warned him to show respect.
• Zhao Qian urged the Sword Chief Ranking to choose challengers beyond the Sword Champion Assembly, and it announced Zhenwu’s roster of nine.
• Spectators and the Mysterious Female True Lord questioned the selection of Liu Gu and Qi Po, while Mu Zhixing also doubted the roster.
• Liu Chuxuan tried to make the Sword Chief Ranking change its choices, but its power knocked him off balance.
• Liu Gu and Qi Po arrived on the Sword Platform, showing no fear despite their unassuming appearances.

Qi Po and Liu Gu defied demands to leave the Sword Inquiry platform, and the Sword Chief Ranking selected the elderly rogue cultivator Gao Nu as the tenth Zhenwu Sword Inquirer. Gao Nu welcomed the chance to avenge his daughter and singled out Madam Yu as his target.

• Qi Po and Liu Gu introduced themselves, then faced protests from spectators and their own sects over being chosen to fight the demons.
• Qi Po swore a blood oath to slay a demon or suffer Liberation by Violence, while Liu Gu insulted the crowd and refused to leave.
• The Sword Chief Ranking announced Gao Nu, a rogue cultivator whose limited cultivation and age provoked another wave of protests.
• Gao Nu wept with gratitude for his selection and vowed to tear Madam Yu apart to avenge his daughter, whom Madam Yu had skinned.

After Gao Nu demanded that the Sword Inquiry continue to avenge his dead daughter, Liu Chuxuan considered ending it to spare the Nine Prefectures' strongest fighters. He let the ten chosen cultivators decide, but required all ten to step forward or the Nine Prefectures would put away the Sword Chief Ranking and go to war with the Nine Abysses; Xu Taiping stepped forward, trusting the Ranking's choice.

• Liu Chuxuan learned that Gao Nu's daughter had died and discussed with Mu Zhixing, the Mysterious Female True Lord, and Fu Yuan whether to stop the Sword Inquiry.
• Zhao Qian told Xu Taiping and Dugu Qingxiao they could return to Qingxuan, but Gao Nu, Qi Po, and Liu Gu insisted the Sword Inquiry continue.
• Xu Taiping asked Liu Chuxuan to let the ten chosen cultivators decide for themselves, and all ten gathered on the Sword Platform.
• Liu Chuxuan declared that all ten had to step forward together or the Nine Prefectures would put away the Sword Chief Ranking and face the Nine Abysses directly.
• Gao Nu objected, but Xu Taiping stepped forward beside Qi Po and the others, saying they should trust the Sword Chief Ranking's choice.

Xu Taiping realized the Sword Chief Ranking had chosen the ten cultivators for their reasons to fight, while the Sword Inquiry’s opening duel matched Qi Po against Demon Emperor Long Xie. Qi Po borrowed three hundred years of cultivation through his sword domain and severed Long Xie’s tail with one strike.

• A Meng, Cui Tiegu, Dugu Qingxiao, Chen Hao, Yun Ye, and Lin Qingnu stood with Qi Po, declaring their resolve to face the Ten Demons.
• Xu Taiping told Fairy Lingyue that the Sword Chief Ranking valued the chosen cultivators’ reasons for drawing their swords, and she warned him that the Sword Inquiry would remain dangerous.
• The Sword Chief Ranking announced that the battlefield would span the peaks within a thousand li of Heavenly Pillar Peak and that both sides would send out one participant at a time.
• The Sword Chief Ranking chose Qi Po for Zhenwu, while the Jade Mother's edict chose Demon Emperor Long Xie of the Fifth Demon Abyss for the Nine Abysses.
• Qi Po charged onto the Sword Platform, invoked the third level of the sword domain to borrow three hundred years of cultivation, and cut off Long Xie's scorpion tail.

Qi Po initially overwhelmed Demon Emperor Long Xie with his third-level Sword Domain, but Long Xie adapted with poisonous mist that could transform into powerful elemental attacks. After being battered and forced to defend himself, Qi Po destroyed Long Xie's poisonous needles, only for Long Xie to suddenly reappear above him.

• Qi Po's third-level Sword Domain stunned the onlookers, while Cui Tiegu and A Meng discussed their past and a possible future challenge.
• Long Xie turned his poisonous mist into powerful Gang Wind and a water tornado, halting Qi Po's Sword Intent and shattering his Earth Essence Sword Gang.
• Long Xie struck Qi Po with his True Demon Body and restored scorpion tail, while Qi Po used rock walls and earthen-spike flying swords to survive the attacks.
• As the crowd searched for Long Xie after he disappeared, he suddenly appeared above Qi Po's head.

Qi Po overcame Long Xie by revealing his fourth-level Sword Domain and borrowing six hundred years of cultivation to kill the Demon Emperor. Before he could continue fighting, Sword Fiend arrived and beheaded him with a single sword strike.

• Long Xie repeatedly rammed Qi Po, piercing him with venomous spines until the poison weakened his defenses.
• Qi Po anticipated Long Xie's next attack, trapped him briefly with a rock wall, and revealed his fourth-level Sword Domain.
• Qi Po borrowed six hundred years of cultivation and killed Long Xie with a sword strike from over a hundred li away.
• The Demon Mother's Jade Edict named Sword Fiend as the next Nine Abysses challenger.
• Sword Fiend attacked Qi Po as he landed, then swept his flying sword across Qi Po's neck and beheaded him.

Chen Hao intervened to save Qi Po from the Sword Fiend, but his rain-form sword qi was overwhelmed by the Sword Fiend’s perfected true flame. A Meng then revealed that Chen Hao wanted to enter the Sixth Demon Abyss to comprehend a sword strike before it became his heart demon.

• Chen Hao drew his sword and used Sword Qi Transforms into Rain to force the Sword Fiend to turn away from Qi Po.
• Chen Hao carried Qi Po’s head and body off the platform, and Cui Tiegu used his skills to stitch Qi Po together and revive him.
• The Sword Fiend’s Sword Qi True Flame began devouring Chen Hao’s rain, and A Meng said Chen Hao could not withstand it at their current levels.
• Xu Taiping asked Dugu Qingxiao why Chen Hao had joined the Heaven-Demon War, but Dugu Qingxiao did not know.
• A Meng revealed that Chen Hao planned to ask the sect master to let him enter Lion Camel Valley and face the Sixth Demon Abyss to comprehend a sword strike threatening to become his heart demon.

Chen Hao unleashed his full power against the Sword Fiend and used the Two Forms Sword to resist his overwhelming attacks. As the Sword Fiend’s flames were about to engulf him, Chen Hao attempted the ultimate-realm technique, Sword Reverses Yin and Yang, and the flames transformed into sword qi rain.

• Xu Taiping wondered whether Chen Hao’s pursuit of swordsmanship explained his selection for the Sword Chief Ranking, while Dugu Qingxiao and Lin Qingnu reacted to his resolve.
• Chen Hao released all the restraints on his true essence and expanded his sword-qi rain, but the Sword Fiend summoned a fire phoenix and forced it back.
• Facing an enormous sword strike, Chen Hao used Sword Slices Yin and Yang to form a diagram that sheltered him and trapped the Sword Fiend.
• The Sword Fiend’s strength overwhelmed the yin fish, turning it to yang and threatening to engulf Chen Hao.
• Lin Qingnu explained that the Two Forms Sword’s ultimate strike could reverse an opponent’s power, and Chen Hao shouted Sword Reverses Yin and Yang, transforming the Sword Fiend’s flames into sword-qi rain.

Chen Hao completed Sword Uniting Yin and Yang by sheathing the Sword Qi he had absorbed from Sword Fiend, then unleashed a strike powerful enough to shatter Sword Fiend’s defenses and split his sword. Sword Fiend revealed that he had mastered the Two Forms Sword as well and turned Chen Hao’s attack back on him.

• Chen Hao began merging Sword Fiend’s Sword Intent and sword will into his sheath with Sword Uniting Yin and Yang.
• Cui Tiegu praised Chen Hao’s ambition, while Lin Qingnu explained that Sword Fiend could not act without strengthening Chen Hao’s technique.
• Chen Hao sheathed the longsword and gathered all the Sword Qi, bringing his combat strength to the level of a Great Perfection Heaven Questioning Realm cultivator.
• Chen Hao drew his sword and shattered Sword Fiend’s Protective Sword Gang, cut his Immortal Sword in two, and split a nearby mountain peak.
• Sword Fiend used Sword Slices Yin and Yang to seize control of the Two Forms Sword formation and twist Chen Hao’s attack, revealing that he had mastered the technique.

Chen Hao challenged Sword Fiend despite discovering his Twin Fish Eyes could copy spells, and unleashed a suicidal sword that earned him recognition as a Sword Saint before his remnant soul vanished. The Sword Chief Ranking then named Dugu Qingxiao as the next challenger, and he vowed to avenge Chen Hao.

• Sword Fiend used his Twin Fish Eyes to copy Chen Hao’s sword technique and gathered the formation’s sword qi into a devastating strike.
• A Meng and the others identified the Twin Fish Eyes, while Dugu Qingxiao urged Chen Hao to stop fighting and let someone else take over.
• Chen Hao refused, saying he would rather die pursuing the Dao than miss his chance to reach the sword.
• As Sword Fiend struck, Chen Hao pierced his own chest and used Liberation by Violence to unleash a sword that shattered Sword Fiend’s attack and wounded him severely.
• Chen Hao’s remnant soul heard Dugu Qingxiao and the assembled cultivators hail him as a Sword Saint, then dissipated as he declared that he could die content after hearing the Dao.
• The Sword Chief Ranking named Dugu Qingxiao as Sword Fiend’s next challenger, and Dugu Qingxiao vowed to take Sword Fiend’s head for Chen Hao.

Dugu Qingxiao began his Sword Inquiry against Sword Fiend, while Xu Taiping learned the lethal cost of his Second Senior Brother’s Three Truths Crossing Dharma Red Lotus Sword. Their opening clash revealed that Dugu Qingxiao had concealed much of his strength in his earlier duel with Cui Tiegu.

• Cui Tiegu and A Meng praised Chen Hao’s final strike and discussed how Dugu Qingxiao might be pursuing an Extreme Law.
• Dugu Qingxiao told Xu Taiping not to save him and asked the seniors not to intervene before entering the Sword Platform.
• Zhao Qian told Xu Taiping that Dugu Qingxiao’s Three Truths Crossing Dharma Red Lotus Sword contained Nirvanic Annihilation, which could greatly increase his strength but risked consuming his life and casting him into the Hungry Ghost Path.
• Dugu Qingxiao and Sword Fiend began their Sword Inquiry, and Dugu Qingxiao filled the platform with Sword Qi Flame Lotuses.
• Cui Tiegu realized Dugu Qingxiao was displaying at least sixty percent more fighting strength than he had shown in their earlier match.