Chapter Summaries

Fairy Lingyue explained the Thunder Sound Banner’s powers and the deadly formation it could create as Xu Taiping prepared to enter the True Martial Great Emperor’s Martial Armory. While Xu Taiping’s Primordial Spirit traveled into the Sword Champion Token, Fairy Lingyue revealed a message pointing to her own dangerous, final chance to reach the Path to Heaven.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that the Thunder Sound Banner had belonged to the Zhenwu Army’s Heavenly Thunder Division and described its battle-intent and thunder-enhancing powers.
• Fairy Lingyue sent Xu Taiping a Divine Soul Mark showing thirty-six Thunder Sound Banners forming a vast formation that annihilated a Nine Abysses demonic army.
• Fairy Lingyue warned Xu Taiping that Thunder Sound Banners had different grades and might be difficult to obtain, and told him to consider another Martial Armory treasure if he could only retrieve a low-grade banner.
• Xu Taiping sent his Primordial Spirit into the Sword Champion Token to enter the Martial Armory while Fairy Lingyue waited for news.
• Fairy Lingyue reread Wuji Immortal Elder’s message about a clue to the Old Heavenly Court’s Path to Heaven and resolved to pursue it despite the risk of never returning.

Xu Taiping entered the True Martial Great Emperor’s Martial Armory as the True Martial Sword Champion and learned how to claim a treasure. After reviewing the armory’s offerings, he chose the Thunder Sound Banner.

• Xu Taiping met Changqing, the old turtle appointed by the Great Emperor to guard the Martial Armory, and learned that only True Martial Sword Champions could enter and select a weapon.
• Old Chang led Xu Taiping to the sealed armory door and explained that he had sent Dugu Qingxiao’s reward to the Azure Profound Sect, though he could only observe the Sword Champion Assembly’s events.
• Xu Taiping knocked three times, announced himself, and opened the armory door with permission from the Ranking Spirit of the Sword Chief Ranking.
• Xu Taiping entered a star-filled treasury where every star was a treasure and learned that he could choose an item, but could take it only if it acknowledged him.
• Xu Taiping chose the Thunder Sound Banner because its description called on martial artists to bear it again when the Nine Abysses wreaked havoc.

Xu Taiping chose the Thunder Sound Banner to help settle his Dao Heart and learned that taking one required defeating a former wielder of the Heavenly Thunder Division. He entered the arena and struck down Lu Xiao with his raging lion physique, but Lu Xiao refused to concede and demanded another bout.

• Xu Taiping chose the Thunder Sound Banner because its power against the Nine Abysses Demonic Beasts best soothed his Dao Heart.
• The Sword Chief Ranking explained that Xu Taiping had to defeat former Heavenly Thunder Division wielders to claim Thunder Sound Banners.
• Xu Taiping entered the arena, and the Sword Chief Ranking ordered Senior Sergeant Lu Xiao to fight him.
• Lu Xiao attacked Xu Taiping, who transformed into his raging lion physique and sent Lu Xiao flying with a single punch.
• Lu Xiao got back to his feet, rejected Xu Taiping's thanks for yielding, and demanded to fight again.

Xu Taiping defeated Lu Xiao and learned that winning against three Senior Sergeants at once would let him challenge a Heavenly Thunder Commandant for a Commandant-Rank Thunder Sound Banner. The other Senior Sergeants reacted to Xu Taiping’s interest in that challenge, and one stepped forward to answer him.

• Lu Xiao used his Thunder Sound Banner to strengthen his attacks, but Xu Taiping endured his assault until his stance broke and both his arms snapped.
• Xu Taiping unleashed his full strength and struck Lu Xiao with a crimson fist, knocking him out of the arena.
• The Sword Chief Ranking declared Xu Taiping the winner and awarded him one Thunder Sound Banner.
• The Sword Chief Ranking said Xu Taiping would need to defeat two Senior Sergeants at once to earn another banner, and three at once to challenge a Heavenly Thunder Commandant for a Commandant-Rank banner.
• A bearded Senior Sergeant stepped forward and laughed that Xu Taiping was looking down on them.

Xu Taiping challenged three senior soldiers of the Heavenly Thunder Division at once to earn another qualification to challenge the Heavenly Thunder commandant. He defeated Lü Du, Peng Fei, and Yuan Hong, leaving them to acknowledge his superior skill.

• Xu Taiping requested a three-on-one challenge, and the ranking spirit warned that losing would limit him to one soldier-grade Thunder Sound Banner.
• Lü Du, Peng Fei, and Yuan Hong introduced themselves and attacked Xu Taiping together with their Thunder Sound Banners.
• Xu Taiping deflected all three banners, then used his clone and a powerful blade strike to sever Lü Du’s arm.
• Peng Fei and Yuan Hong charged Xu Taiping, who unleashed a Dragon-Crane blade technique that defeated them both.
• Lü Du, Peng Fei, and Yuan Hong accepted their defeat before Xu Taiping.

After Xu Taiping defeated three opponents, he earned the right to challenge a Heavenly Thunder Commandant and faced Zhao Tu, one of twelve commandants. Zhao Tu blocked Xu Taiping’s opening punch and counterattacked with martial intents, forcing Xu Taiping to reveal more of his strength.

• Xu Taiping accepted the Ranking Spirit’s confirmation that he had won the right to challenge a Heavenly Thunder Commandant.
• Twelve Heavenly Thunder Commandants appeared, and they chose Zhao Tu to fight Xu Taiping.
• The Ranking Spirit explained the rewards and warned that Xu Taiping would need to face three commandants at once to challenge the five generals.
• Xu Taiping and Zhao Tu exchanged greetings, then Xu Taiping charged with a Baxia Form punch.
• Zhao Tu blocked Xu Taiping’s punch with his One Arm Against a Thousand Troops technique and countered with a strike carrying multiple martial intents.
• Xu Taiping activated his Dragon Whale Physique, raised his Qi and Blood body tempering to the Immaculate Realm, and adopted the Heaven-Bearing Stance.

Xu Taiping defeated Heavenly Thunder Colonel Zhao Tu and claimed his Thunder Sound Banner, becoming the only Heavenly Thunder Commandant. The Ranking Spirit explained the cost of taking the banner and revealed that Xu Taiping still had to let the treasures choose him.

• Xu Taiping used Overlord's Breath and the Mountain-Setting Fist to send Zhao Tu flying out of the arena.
• Zhao Tu handed Xu Taiping his Thunder Sound Banner, making him the only Heavenly Thunder Commandant.
• The Ranking Spirit told Xu Taiping that accepting the banners would make the deceased Heavenly Thunder Division officers and soldiers vanish from the River of Time.
• Xu Taiping declined the General-Rank challenge but learned he could return for two more attempts after improving his cultivation.
• The Ranking Spirit gave Xu Taiping three more Thunder Sound Banners and said he had to let the treasures choose him.

Xu Taiping performed the Green Ox Fist in the Martial Armory, gaining a small breakthrough in his understanding of the technique. As he prepared to leave, a mysterious elder gave him a piece of Shoushan Copper, and Xu Taiping left wondering whether Fairy Lingyue could explain its origins.

• The ranking spirit told Xu Taiping he could call out to the treasures and suggested demonstrating his skills to attract one.
• Xu Taiping performed the Green Ox Fist, impressing the ranking spirit with his practiced technique and gaining a fresh insight into his cultivation.
• Xu Taiping greeted the treasures, received no response, and turned to leave the Martial Armory.
• An aged voice praised Xu Taiping's punches and sent down a block of copper, which the ranking spirit identified as exceptionally fine Shoushan Copper for forging divine weapons.
• The ranking spirit said the copper belonged to a member of the Demon Race, but the elder stopped him from explaining further, so Xu Taiping took the copper and left.

Xu Taiping returned from the Zhenwu Martial Armory with four Thunder Sound Banners and a piece of Shoushan Copper, which Fairy Lingyue identified as a gift likely given by the legendary Demon Ancestor. After Fairy Lingyue urged him to seize the chance to meet the Demon Ancestor by advancing his cultivation, she told Xu Taiping that Lü Daoxuan had slain the Earth Calamity Demon Seed, and they went to see him.

• Xu Taiping returned to Fan Tower with three Thunder Sound Banners and a Commandant-Rank banner, and Fairy Lingyue confirmed they could form a deadly Lesser Thunder Sound Earth-Rending Four Directions Formation.
• Xu Taiping showed Fairy Lingyue a piece of Shoushan Copper, which she identified as valuable material for forging Demon-Sealing Swords and removing the Demon Emperor Soul Seal from his body.
• Xu Taiping described meeting a mysterious expert in the Martial Armory, and he and Fairy Lingyue concluded that the expert was likely the Demon Ancestor.
• Fairy Lingyue urged Xu Taiping to reach the Heaven Shocking Realm before returning to the Martial Armory, so he might meet the Demon Ancestor.
• Fairy Lingyue received word that Lü Daoxuan had slain the Earth Calamity Demon Seed, and she and Xu Taiping went to see him.

Lü Daoxuan explained that Shoushan Copper could revive the Azure Profound Sect’s ancient body-forged sword techniques, while warning Xu Taiping that the Spirit Bone Stele’s sword-forging methods carried a hidden cost. Fairy Lingyue then began revealing that the Sumeru Realm’s River of Time differed from the Shangqing Realm’s.

• Lü Daoxuan told Xu Taiping that Shoushan Copper was extraordinarily valuable to the Azure Profound Sect because its Broken Sword Pavilion lineage forged and nurtured swords with the body.
• Lü Daoxuan explained that the old sword-forging method required flawless, freshly mined materials, so recycled Shoushan Copper could not safely be used.
• Lü Daoxuan reassured Xu Taiping that the Furnace Dao Body Sword-Forging Method was not bound by that material restriction, unlike techniques derived from the Spirit Bone Stele.
• Lü Daoxuan warned that Spirit Bone Stele swords borrowed fortune from the Heavenly Dao, and Fairy Lingyue noted that cultivators who forged them often met gruesome deaths.
• Fairy Lingyue asked Lü Daoxuan whether she could tell Xu Taiping the secret, then revealed that the Sumeru Realm had no Spirit Bone Stele and had a different River of Time.

Fairy Lingyue and Lü Daoxuan explained how anomalies in the Spirit Bone Stele and River of Time revealed a way to resist the Great Void Calamity. Lü Daoxuan revealed that the calamity was already devouring the Shangqing Realm and had begun in True Martial Heaven.

• Fairy Lingyue recalled that a Spirit Bone Stele cultivation technique she practiced developed the thought of hunger before her betrayal and fall.
• Lü Daoxuan explained that the Five Elders of Taixuan discovered anomalies in the Spirit Bone Stele and River of Time while investigating the Great Void Calamity.
• Xu Taiping realized his pure Shoushan Copper could be used to forge a divine weapon unbound by the world's Heavenly Dao.
• Lü Daoxuan explained that Broken Sword Hall's technique could forge a Xiantian Divine Weapon and give birth to a seventeenth Great Dao Law.
• Lü Daoxuan warned that speaking of the Great Void Calamity could cause it to erase Xu Taiping, then revealed it was already devouring the Shangqing Realm and began in True Martial Heaven.

Lü Daoxuan explained how Zhao Xuantan and the Five Elders fought the Great Void Calamity and why their failure led them to seek a Swordbearer who could forge a stronger Immortal Sword. Xu Taiping agreed to become that Swordbearer, and Lü Daoxuan said they had at least five hundred years to prepare.

• Fairy Lingyue asked whether Zhao Xuantan had disappeared while fighting the Great Void Calamity, and Lü Daoxuan confirmed that his resistance delayed its eruption by at least ten thousand years.
• Lü Daoxuan explained that Zhao Xuantan worked with the Five Elders, who sacrificed two elders and Zhao Xuantan's wealth to forge six Immortal Swords, but their plan failed.
• Lü Daoxuan said the remaining elders concluded that only Immortal Swords made with the Taixuan Sect's Broken Sword Hall method and laws beyond the sixteen Heavenly Dao Laws could counter the calamity.
• Xu Taiping agreed to use the Shoushan Copper to forge an Immortal Sword and become the next Swordbearer, while Fairy Lingyue let him make his choice.
• Lü Daoxuan told Xu Taiping they had at least five hundred years before the Great Void Calamity erupted again and that they had time to prepare.

Xu Taiping prepared to refine an Origin Beginning Clone before entering the Scroll of Time, while Lü Daoxuan told Fairy Lingyue why he had chosen to involve him in the coming Great Void Calamity. Lü Daoxuan resolved that he and Qingxuan would fight alongside Xu Taiping, revealing that victory could let the entire Qingxuan sect ascend.

• Xu Taiping asked whether he should refine the Shoushan Copper, but Lü Daoxuan said he needed cultivation above the Heaven Shocking Realm to forge it flawlessly.
• Lü Daoxuan urged Xu Taiping to try refining an Origin Beginning Clone in the bronze coffin, and Xu Taiping entered it with Fairy Lingyue's approval.
• After Xu Taiping shut the coffin, Fairy Lingyue challenged Lü Daoxuan about drawing him into the Great Void Calamity.
• Lü Daoxuan recounted how Xu Taiping's repeated choices to risk his life for others had convinced him that Xu Taiping would fight the calamity regardless.
• Lü Daoxuan declared that he and Qingxuan would fight beside Xu Taiping, and Fairy Lingyue learned that victory could allow the entire Qingxuan sect to ascend.

Lü Daoxuan explained to Fairy Lingyue that Xu Taiping’s sword-forging clone would draw the Great Void Calamity’s tribulations onto Qingxuan, while Taiping’s true body stayed away. He also revealed that the trial in the Scroll of Time could let Taiping obtain eight cultivators’ martial fortune and break through, just as a Bronze Coffin began to tremble.

• Lü Daoxuan told Fairy Lingyue that forging the calamity sword would awaken the Great Void Calamity and bring successive tribulations upon Qingxuan.
• Lü Daoxuan explained that the Azure Profound Sect would let disciples choose whether to stay, and would prepare those who remained to endure the calamities.
• Lü Daoxuan said the Nine Abysses might use the Demon Mother’s Jade Decree to erase Xu Taiping’s martial fortune if they could not kill him after the Sword Champion Assembly.
• Lü Daoxuan revealed that the Scroll of Time trial could let Xu Taiping’s Origin Beginning Clone claim the martial fortune of eight cultivators and help him reach the Heaven Shocking Realm.
• Fairy Lingyue heard the Bronze Coffin rumble and worried that something had gone wrong with Xu Taiping’s clone.

Xu Taiping struggled to refine an Origin Beginning Clone because the Nine Abysses were rapidly severing his Martial Fortune, then entered the Scroll of Time to join Eldest. After he vanished, Fairy Lingyue revealed she intended to investigate the Old Heavenly Court's Path to Heaven, hoping it could help avert the Great Void Calamity.

• Xu Taiping spent two hours refining an Origin Beginning Clone and nearly exhausted his Qi and Blood and True Essence before succeeding.
• Fairy Lingyue and Lü Daoxuan explained that the Nine Abysses were rapidly severing Xu Taiping's Martial Fortune, and Lü urged him to enter the Scroll of Light and Shadow that night.
• Xu Taiping unfurled the Scroll of Time, poured in his power, and was swept away by wind and snow.
• Fairy Lingyue placed the Scroll of Time inside a Bronze Coffin to conceal Xu Taiping's aura and told Lü Daoxuan she planned to investigate a clue to the Ancient Heavenly Court's Heavenly Gate.
• Lü Daoxuan warned that cultivators who found clues to the Old Heavenly Court's supposed Path to Heaven had disappeared, but Fairy Lingyue said she hoped to use it to change the Great Void Calamity's outcome.

Fairy Lingyue told Lü Daoxuan that Taiqing Paradise might offer a refuge from the Great Void Calamity and prepared to seek its entrance in the Old Heavenly Court. Lü Daoxuan promised to protect Taiping and help find Lingyue if he could escape the Netherdark Demon Grotto.

• Lü Daoxuan explained that if Taiping failed his trial, the Bronze Coffin would hide him in the river of time until the Great Void Calamity passed.
• Fairy Lingyue revealed that Taiqing Paradise might be accessible through the Old Heavenly Court's Path to Heaven, and that its former immortal and Buddhist guardians had entered it.
• Fairy Lingyue decided to search for Taiqing Paradise and left a Jade Slip containing a message for Taiping in case she did not return.
• Lü Daoxuan refused to keep Lingyue's journey secret from Taiping indefinitely, promising to tell him if she had not returned by the time he reached the Heaven Shocking Realm.
• Lü Daoxuan asked Lingyue to leave clues or a location-finding Treasure, saying he might escape the Netherdark Demon Grotto with Taiping and go to her aid.

Fairy Lingyue prepared to leave clues and protect herself while Xu Taiping entered the Scroll of Time. Inside Buddha-Slaying Town, Mister Da gave Xu Taiping a ring that could alter the flow of time, and Xu Taiping wondered why the town seemed so ordinary.

• Fairy Lingyue promised to spend the next few days leaving accurate clues and to preserve herself until Lü Daoxuan and Xu Taiping could find her.
• Fairy Lingyue offered to help Qingxuan and asked Lü Daoxuan where he and Xu Taiping would place their first piece if Xu Taiping passed the trial.
• Lü Daoxuan said they would place their piece in the Mysterious Wasteland and invite the Buddha to cross west.
• Xu Taiping entered the Scroll of Time and woke in a rain-frozen tavern in Buddha-Slaying Town, where Mister Da greeted him.
• Mister Da gave Xu Taiping a bronze ring from Ni Zhao that could stop, accelerate, or reverse time once a day.
• Xu Taiping put on the ring and asked Mister Da why Buddha-Slaying Town seemed to have no cultivators.

Mister Da explained the Scroll of Time’s trial to Xu Taiping, who had to repeat the choices made by seven martial artists on the days they died. After Xu Taiping chose incorrectly in Buddha-Slaying Town, he began aging as the scene reset, leaving him to face the waiter’s question again.

• Mister Da told Xu Taiping that matching each martial artist’s choices would let him proceed and claim their martial fortune, while mistakes would consume his lifespan.
• Mister Da warned Xu Taiping to suppress the influx of qi, blood, and true essence and avoid breaking through to the Heaven Questioning Realm.
• When the waiter asked them to order or leave, Mister Da reminded Xu Taiping that Qi Zhou had sat in his seat, and Xu Taiping chose to leave without ordering.
• The waiter’s head burst into a black vortex that pulled Xu Taiping apart, then the scene returned with Xu Taiping’s body rapidly aging.
• Mister Da identified the aging as the penalty for choosing incorrectly, and the waiter repeated his question.

Xu Taiping repeatedly relived a deadly encounter in the Scroll of Time, trying to choose how Qi Zhou would respond to the waiter. After discovering clues linking the restaurant patrons’ injuries to him, he used Lotus Eye Divination to confirm his suspicion and prepare an answer.

• Xu Taiping ordered wine and the restaurant’s signature dishes, but the waiter turned back, exploded, and triggered another time-loop death.
• Xu Taiping asked the Eldest Master what Qi Zhou was like, learned he knew nothing, and died again after remaining silent when the waiter asked for his order.
• Xu Taiping noticed the patrons’ injuries and fearful or sympathetic expressions, then used Lotus Root Broken, Yet Its Fibers Remain to see threads connecting them to him.
• The Lotus Eye activated inside the Scroll of Time, and Xu Taiping viewed its divination before whispering that his suspicion was correct.

Xu Taiping struck the waiter at Drunken Immortal Tower and received Qi Zhou’s power and memories through the Scroll of Time. After learning that Qi Zhou had become a serial killer who tortured and murdered families, Xu Taiping condemned him and told Eldest Master that he had recognized Qi Zhou’s villainy from the drinkers’ eyes.

• Xu Taiping punched the waiter and shouted for him to leave, triggering a golden light that restored his True Essence and qi and blood.
• A surge of Qi Zhou’s power entered Xu Taiping, strengthening his body and nearly forcing a breakthrough, which he suppressed.
• Qi Zhou’s Divine Soul Mark revealed how he avenged his parents by killing Master Zhu’s household, then became a killer who repeated brutal crimes for pleasure.
• Xu Taiping judged Qi Zhou a villain, while the injured waiter cursed him and hurried downstairs.
• Eldest Master asked how Xu Taiping had identified Qi Zhou, and Xu Taiping pointed to the eyes of the drinkers at the neighboring table.