Chapter Summaries

After Chu Zhiyuan and his companions killed two newly ascended Grandmasters, they examined the statues found on their bodies and learned how the Tianxin and Huaisu Sects created Grandmasters through sacrifices. Chu Zhiyuan decided to use the indestructible statues to help clear out evil sects in the eastern region, while the fate of the people at Eagle Beak Cliff remained uncertain.

• Chu Zhiyuan explained that the two Grandmasters had only recently advanced and could not yet wield their power fully.
• Chu Zhiyuan found two small statues on the corpses, and Meng Canglan identified them as belonging to the Huaisu Sect and Tianxin Sect.
• Meng Canglan explained that the sects needed willing sacrifices to create Grandmasters, and Chu Zhiyuan reasoned that the victims had been driven to welcome death and misled by illusions.
• Chu Zhiyuan crushed the statues beneath a massive bluestone, but they remained unharmed.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked Meng Canglan to help him use the statues to find evil sect Demonic Humans in the eastern region, and she agreed to send a Spirit Sealing Box.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked whether the people at Eagle Beak Cliff would also be sacrificed, and Meng Canglan said she could no longer be sure.

Chu Zhiyuan uncovered how evil sects exploited Daliu Camp’s rebellion to make sacrifices and used his powers to neutralize the Outer Heavenly Power at Eagle Beak Cliff. He decided to purge two evil sects first, and Meng Canglan agreed to provide Carefree Cult forces for the campaign.

• Chu Zhiyuan told Zhou Zhijia to stay away from Daliu Camp, then concluded that evil sects had instigated the rebellion and sacrificed rebels.
• Tao Haoran and the other Grandmasters arrived and reported that they had slain two evil-sect Grandmasters.
• Chu Zhiyuan used the Great Heavenly Dragon Fist and the power of the Fearless Realm to dispel the forces affecting the statues at Eagle Beak Cliff.
• Chu Zhiyuan confirmed that the two sects had no Demonic Humans at Eagle Beak Cliff and learned that at least four other evil sects remained in the Eastern Region.
• Chu Zhiyuan proposed sweeping out the two sects and asked Meng Canglan for two Grandmasters and twenty upper-three-rank Masters, which she agreed to provide.

After the Grandmasters’ corpses vanished, Chu Zhiyuan and the others discovered a pearl that bewildered the mind and caused people to fall into dangerous dreams. Chu Zhiyuan destroyed its power and realized it had been refined, which meant the Tianxin Sect might create more.

• Chu Zhiyuan agreed to meet Meng Canglan at Tianshui Pavilion and waited for the two Grandmasters’ corpses to leave behind treasures.
• Chu Zhiyuan opened the black box remotely, revealing a pink pearl that made Zhou Zhijia and Meng Canglan fall into dreams.
• Chu Zhiyuan recognized that the pearl’s influence explained how the sacrifice had succeeded, while Huang Cheng and the other Grandmasters said they had never seen one.
• Chu Zhiyuan probed the pearl, triggering its power and nearly causing Zhou Zhijia to stab himself before Chu Zhiyuan’s roar woke him.
• Chu Zhiyuan found that the pearl’s power had collapsed and concluded that it had been refined, so the Tianxin Sect and its pearl-makers had to be destroyed.

Chu Zhiyuan and Meng Canglan gathered Carefree Cult Grandmasters to capture the maker of the dangerous mind-bewildering beads. After Chu Zhiyuan’s blade arts astonished Tan Guizhi, the group prepared to question the captive.

• Meng Canglan agreed with Chu Zhiyuan that they needed to find the bead’s maker and mobilize experts to act the next morning.
• Meng Canglan brought Elders Tan Guizhi and Song Xiangzhu to meet Chu Zhiyuan, while twenty other Grandmasters waited outside the city.
• Chu Zhiyuan led the group to a secluded residence, where Tan Guizhi swiftly knocked unconscious the gaunt Grandmaster whose aura matched the bead.
• At Huang Cheng’s courtyard, Huang Cheng handled the captive roughly, and Chu Zhiyuan cautioned that the man did not seem to belong to an evil sect.
• Tan Guizhi asked to test Chu Zhiyuan’s blade arts, and his strike bypassed her Visualization Diagram and stopped at her forehead.

Chu Zhiyuan tested his blade technique against Song Xiangzhu, impressing her despite admitting he could not defeat a cautious Grandmaster. He learned Weng Qifeng’s Mind Clarity Bead had been used by an evil sect to create a Grandmaster, then entrusted Weng with guarding his residence in Jade Capital.

• Chu Zhiyuan sparred with Song Xiangzhu, whose defensive Spiritual Qi sent him flying, and acknowledged that he was no match for a prepared Grandmaster.
• Chu Zhiyuan learned that the old man was Weng Qifeng, the Mind Clarity Sect’s sect master, and identified the transparent bead as the Mind Clarity Bead.
• Weng Qifeng explained that the bead could reveal one’s innermost thoughts and that he had lost another bead while fleeing Demonic Humans from an evil sect.
• Meng Canglan told Weng Qifeng that the evil sect had used the lost bead to bewilder and sacrifice people to create a Grandmaster.
• Weng Qifeng offered Chu Zhiyuan his remaining Mind Clarity Bead, and Chu Zhiyuan asked him to guard his separate residence in Jade Capital.
• Weng Qifeng accepted the task, received the Mind Clarity Bead back from Chu Zhiyuan, and set out at once.

Chu Zhiyuan recruited Weng Qifeng, then led the Carefree Cult against the evil sects in Jihai Town. As the sects moved to encircle him, his Flying Daggers helped his fighters defeat their attackers without casualties.

• Chu Zhiyuan explained to Meng Canglan why he trusted Weng Qifeng and decided to search for the Tianxin Sect.
• Li Hongzhao learned that Chu Zhiyuan had killed hundreds of Tianxin Sect and Huaisu Sect experts, and that the Eastern Region's evil sects were moving to encircle him.
• Li Hongzhao told Lüzhu to return to Great Meng, but Lüzhu refused because she would not reconcile with her mother.
• Chu Zhiyuan used his Six Flying Daggers to protect the Carefree Cult fighters and disrupt the evil sects' attacks in the forest outside the city.
• The twenty Carefree Cult experts defeated all sixty of their opponents without suffering any injuries.

Chu Zhiyuan observed how the evil sect experts’ deaths fed power to the outer gods, then helped Huang Cheng and the others defeat the remaining Great Grandmasters. After glimpsing the gods’ statues and resisting their influence, he learned more about yin qi and Yin Fiend and resolved to intensify his fight against the evil sects.

• Chu Zhiyuan saw the dead evil sect experts’ yin qi and Essence Blood fuel red flames that rose toward distant statues, and he inferred that the outer gods were using their followers as livestock to harvest power.
• Chu Zhiyuan’s flying daggers disrupted the evil sect Great Grandmasters’ Visualization Diagrams, allowing Huang Cheng and the others to kill four of them.
• When the remaining four Great Grandmasters tried to use Mutual Destruction, Chu Zhiyuan’s Blade Soul disrupted them long enough for the others to kill them.
• Chu Zhiyuan observed black flames and Yin Fiend rise from the eight dead Great Grandmasters and reach the outer gods’ statues, whose gaze blanked his mind until a dragon’s roar restored him.
• Chu Zhiyuan distinguished the yin qi from Yin Fiend and concluded that the outer gods sought Yin Fiend, strengthening his resolve to kill the evil sects.

Chu Zhiyuan urged the Carefree Cult to help eradicate the demonic sects, and Meng Canglan revealed that the Cult had changed its strategy and sent more Masters. The Elders’ real reason for supporting him was their fear of his peerless blade technique and the danger of making him an enemy.

• Chu Zhiyuan considered how demonic sects could strengthen alien forces and resolved to kill as many sect members as possible.
• Meng Canglan told Chu Zhiyuan that more demonic sect experts were coming and that she had summoned another twenty Masters.
• Chu Zhiyuan questioned whether Meng Canglan had authority to mobilize the Masters, and she explained that the Elders had chosen to cooperate with him.
• Chu Zhiyuan criticized the Carefree Cult for allowing the demonic sects to grow, while acknowledging its fears and thanking it for changing course.
• Meng Canglan reflected that the Elders backed Chu Zhiyuan because they feared his blade technique and wanted to avoid becoming his enemies.

Chu Zhiyuan discussed the Carefree Cult’s plans to hunt evil sects and received Azure Dragon Pearls from Meng Canglan. After learning that Wanhua Sect disciples had entered Wanghai City, he used a silver ingot to locate one of them spying downstairs.

• Chu Zhiyuan and Meng Canglan discussed the elusive Carefree Cult lair and agreed to kill as many evil sect Demonic Humans as possible.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked Meng Canglan for Azure Dragon Pearls, and she agreed to give him some.
• Chu Zhiyuan said Phoenix Camp should handle the remaining Daliu Camp stragglers and prioritize pacifying them.
• Meng Canglan told Chu Zhiyuan that Wanhua Sect disciples had entered Wanghai City and gave him a silver ingot one had dropped.
• Chu Zhiyuan sensed the ingot’s owner downstairs and discovered that the Wanhua Sect disciple was spying on them.

Chu Zhiyuan used himself as bait to uncover a Wanhua Sect plot against him in Wanghai City. He learned that four sect members planned to attack him for his Imperial Blood, while more Grandmasters from other sects were expected to arrive.

• Chu Zhiyuan spotted a disguised Wanhua Sect Grandmaster posing as a peddler and told Meng Canglan to leave so she would not be discovered.
• The Wanhua Sect Grandmaster followed Chu Zhiyuan, changing his face, build, and clothes before reporting his location to three fellow disciples.
• Senior Brother Lu and the three disciples planned to kill Chu Zhiyuan and devour his Imperial Blood to reach the Grandmaster Realm.
• The four learned that Grandmasters from the Jade Cauldron Sect, Lingyun Sect, and Fuqin Sect were also coming to Wanghai City.
• Chu Zhiyuan listened from a nearby alley and recognized that using himself as bait had worked.

Chu Zhiyuan lured evil sect Grandmasters into ambushes and killed wave after wave, hoping to perfect his Spirit Nourishing Realm and break through. After Meng Canglan told him the Phoenix Camp's mission had concluded, he chose to remain near Wanghai City for a little longer before returning to Jade Capital.

• Chu Zhiyuan ambushed four Wanhua Sect Grandmasters in a forest and killed them with his Blade Soul and Bright Moon Blade.
• Chu Zhiyuan absorbed the dead Grandmasters' yin energy and felt his Blade Soul grow stronger.
• People in Jade Capital's Dengyun Tower debated rumors that Chu Zhiyuan was slaughtering evil sect Demonic Humans alone and worried that he faced a deadly pursuit.
• Chu Zhiyuan stood among thirty-six dead Grandmasters after defeating the sixth wave of evil sect attackers that day, and considered pretending to be injured to lure in more enemies.
• Meng Canglan told Chu Zhiyuan that the Phoenix Camp's mission had concluded and asked whether he would return to Jade Capital.
• Chu Zhiyuan declined to leave immediately, but promised Meng Canglan that he would return in two days.

Chu Zhiyuan agreed to leave the Eastern Region soon as Meng Canglan warned him that the influx of evil sect experts endangered both him and the Carefree Cult. He slaughtered fourteen Huaisu Sect attackers and completed the Bright Moon Blade's Blade Soul.

• Meng Canglan urged Chu Zhiyuan to leave the Eastern Region, and he promised to set off within two days.
• Meng Canglan offered Carefree Cult experts to assist him, but Chu Zhiyuan said their presence would limit his freedom and risk leaking news.
• Chu Zhiyuan sensed incoming enemies and sent Meng Canglan east, where Tan and Song escorted her away.
• Fourteen gray-robed Huaisu Sect men attacked Chu Zhiyuan, who killed all of them with his Bright Moon Blade and Flying Daggers.
• Chu Zhiyuan laughed as he realized the Blade Soul was finally complete.

Chu Zhiyuan completed his Blade Soul and advanced to the Nascent Soul Stage while slaughtering waves of evil sect experts. After killing everyone who dared approach, he turned toward the remaining observers, who were preparing to flee.

• Chu Zhiyuan completed his Blade Soul, reached the Nascent Soul Stage, and considered how its power might threaten Great Grandmasters.
• Twenty-four evil sect experts joined forces to attack Chu Zhiyuan, who evaded their encirclement and fled through the forest.
• More evil sect experts rushed in after rumors spread that Chu Zhiyuan was exhausted and close to defeat.
• Chu Zhiyuan discovered that his Nascent Soul Stage enhanced both his mind and body, letting him move swiftly and kill attackers while replenishing his Blade Soul.
• Chu Zhiyuan killed every evil sect expert who approached, called out to the thirty-six observers, and vanished toward them as they tried to leave.

Chu Zhiyuan lured evil sect experts into attacking him in Wanghai City and killed them to advance his cultivation. After using the Bright Moon Blade to find Tianxin Sect disciples, he purged eighty-eight evil sect experts in one night, leaving his Nascent Soul Stage much closer to perfection.

• Chu Zhiyuan entered Wanghai City and killed two evil sect experts who attacked him at Tianshui Pavilion, then killed four more as he continued eating.
• Chu Zhiyuan killed twelve attackers in total and found that their deaths strengthened his Blade Soul, Sword Qi, and Nascent Soul Stage.
• Chu Zhiyuan waited for Meng Canglan, then used the Bright Moon Blade to sense threads connected to a three-eyed statue and locate Tianxin Sect disciples.
• Chu Zhiyuan returned to Tianshui Pavilion the next morning and counted the results of his nighttime purge: eighty-eight evil sect experts, including fifteen Tianxin Sect experts and twenty Huaisu Sect experts, had died.

Chu Zhiyuan staged a public falling-out with Meng Canglan to protect the Carefree Cult from blame while luring evil sect Demonic Humans into attacking him. The chapter left their quarrel spreading through Wanghai City, with the ruse underway.

• Chu Zhiyuan concluded that the evil sect experts had stopped falling for his usual bait and asked Huang Cheng to arrange a new ambush ruse.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Huang Cheng to have Mr. Tao disguise himself as an evil sect Grandmaster while Huang Cheng, Madam Meng, and Madam Zhou staged a battle that would leave Chu Zhiyuan apparently gravely wounded.
• Chu Zhiyuan and Meng Canglan agreed that the Carefree Cult should publicly fall out with him to avoid the evil sects' anger, then repair their relationship later.
• Chu Zhiyuan appeared injured at a wonton stall in Wanghai City, where Meng Canglan confronted him in front of a crowd and accused his actions of causing losses to her cult.
• Chu Zhiyuan dismissed Meng Canglan's complaint, and she left while martial arts experts spread word of their apparent conflict.

Chu Zhiyuan and his allies staged a convincing attack in Wanghai City to draw out the evil sects, then waited in the mountains for someone to come after the Venerable Statue. Xie Wufeng of the Huaisu Sect arrived and demanded the statue, leaving Chu Zhiyuan facing a Grandmaster Perfection opponent.

• Tao Haoran pursued a fleeing figure from Tianshui Pavilion while Huang Cheng fought two Grandmasters, and their staged battle convinced Wanghai City's people that Chu Zhiyuan was in danger.
• News of the apparent attack spread through Wanghai City, stirring worry and excitement among its residents and the evil sects' spies and disciples.
• Chu Zhiyuan, Huang Cheng, and Tao Haoran discussed their plan in the mountain forest, with Chu Zhiyuan saying his cultivation would reach perfection within days.
• Xie Wufeng of the Huaisu Sect approached Chu Zhiyuan and demanded the Venerable Statue in exchange for sparing his life.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked how Xie Wufeng had reached Grandmaster Perfection, and Xie Wufeng said he had killed three masters, each of whom helped him advance one major realm.

Chu Zhiyuan thwarted Xie Wufeng and Lu Yuhua’s attempt to seize the Venerable Statue and killed them with hidden Flying Daggers. From their remains, he found the Thunderclap Sword, a natural Flying Sword he absorbed into his dantian, and an unexplained black iron token.

• Xie Wufeng and Lu Yuhua confronted Chu Zhiyuan and demanded the Venerable Statue, but he sealed it in the Spirit Sealing Box before they could use it.
• As Xie Wufeng and Lu Yuhua fled, Chu Zhiyuan struck them with four hidden Flying Daggers, killing them.
• Chu Zhiyuan found a small wooden sword and a black iron token among the two True Disciples’ remains.
• Chu Zhiyuan tested the wooden sword, discovered its speed and power, and identified it as the Thunderclap Sword.
• Chu Zhiyuan used the Void Controlling Sword Scripture to place the Thunderclap Sword in his dantian, then examined the black iron token.

Chu Zhiyuan traveled toward Jade Capital after defeating two True Disciples and secretly capturing more evil-sect experts, while his reputation for slaughter spread. Back in the city, Li Hongzhao learned that his cultivation had advanced again and found him deliberately avoiding her.

• Chu Zhiyuan stored the mysterious iron plaque, praised the Thunderclap Sword, and continued alone toward Jade Capital while Huang Cheng and the others stayed hidden.
• Over three days, Chu Zhiyuan saw no direct attacks from Huaisu Sect or Tianxin Sect, but used the Venerable Statues to capture more than ten hidden observers and advance his Nascent Soul Stage cultivation.
• Li Hongzhao and Su Qiuyan heard diners celebrating Chu Zhiyuan's victories, and Li Hongzhao said her Phoenix Cry Nine Heavens Technique had reached the Eighth Heaven.
• Li Hongzhao recognized Cheng Miaozhen at Bright Moon Tower and invited the Eighteenth Princess to visit her establishment.
• Li Hongzhao spotted Chu Zhiyuan returning with Zou Fang and Guo Chi's group, but he entered an alley before she could approach him.
• Su Qiuyan sensed that Chu Zhiyuan's cultivation had advanced to a level that threatened her, and Li Hongzhao complained that he always kept ahead of her.

Chu Zhiyuan recovered from his exhausting battles and arranged for Weng Qifeng to stay in a safe courtyard. The peace of his new refuge helped Weng Qifeng glimpse the Grandmaster Gate, leaving him on the path to enter the Grandmaster Realm.

• Su Qiuyan said Chu Zhiyuan could reach Grandmaster Perfection despite advancing too quickly, and Li Hongzhao lamented that he remained her nemesis.
• Chu Zhiyuan nourished his body with the Imperial Heaven Earthly Soil Scripture after returning to the courtyard.
• Chu Zhiyuan assured Weng Qifeng that the inner-city courtyard was secure and told him to seek a breakthrough into the Grandmaster Realm.
• Weng Qifeng settled into a wondrous state as he realized that finding peace had fulfilled the condition he needed for a breakthrough.
• Weng Qifeng told Chu Zhiyuan that he had finally seen the Grandmaster Gate.

Chu Zhiyuan returned to the Prince’s Manor after helping Weng Qifeng enter the Grandmaster Realm and learned that Chu Yi and Li Suyue had also advanced with the Eternal Spirit Divine Tree’s help. His family welcomed him home, where Chu Minghou explained that Imperial Court officials were impeaching him over the turmoil caused by his campaign against Demonic Humans.

• Chu Zhiyuan urged Weng Qifeng to cultivate patiently, discussed his own path toward the Grandmaster Realm, and left to see his family.
• Chu Zhiyuan reflected on the unknown changes that occur when a cultivator enters the Grandmaster Realm.
• Chu Yi and Li Suyue told Chu Zhiyuan that the Eternal Spirit Divine Tree had pushed them into the Grandmaster Realm, and he told them to keep its role secret.
• Bai Ningshuang and Chu Minghou welcomed Chu Zhiyuan home and questioned him about reports that he had killed three or four hundred Demonic Humans.
• Chu Minghou said Imperial Court officials were impeaching Chu Zhiyuan for causing disorder in the Eastern Territory, but Chu Zhiyuan said he did not care about losing merit.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked whether Imperial Grandfather would receive him, and Chu Minghou said he would have an audience when the time came.