Chapter Summaries

Chu Zhiyuan tested Li Hongzhao’s Emperor’s Sword and learned that she had mastered only thirty percent of its power, while confirming that the sword could enable ascension. He returned to the post station pondering the sword’s secrets and the stalled negotiations between Great Meng and Great Jing.

• Chu Zhiyuan resisted Li Hongzhao’s Emperor’s Sword and inferred that she had mastered about thirty percent of it.
• Li Hongzhao explained that her Phoenix Bloodline let her master the sword unusually quickly and confirmed that its power had to be mastered gradually.
• Chu Zhiyuan questioned Li Hongzhao about ascension, and she revealed that wielding the Emperor’s Sword could enable it, though the required cultivation was beyond the Third Layer.
• Li Hongzhao left, concealing herself beneath the Emperor’s Sword, while Chu Zhiyuan considered what had happened to past emperors who entered the secret realm.
• Chu Zhiyuan returned to the post station, answered the three women’s questions, and pondered the sword and the difficult negotiations.

The Fourth Heir Apparent considered how to survive the Emperor's Sword and resolved to strengthen his cultivation and master the Yin Yang Void Return Art. As Chu Zhiyuan's mission reached Great Meng's South City Gate, a warning about evil sect Demonic Humans among the guards and onlookers halted the reception, and Prince Song ordered the Imperial Guards replaced.

• The Fourth Heir Apparent judged the Emperor's Sword a greater threat than the Demonic Beings from Beyond the Heavens and planned to break through the Deity Conferring Stage and Golden Tower while developing the Yin Yang Void Return Art.
• Chu Zhiyuan and his entourage set out after Great Jing's Ministry of Rites officials inspected them and explained Great Meng's customs.
• Prince Song warned his grandson not to provoke Chu Zhiyuan, whose reputation and standing with Great Jing's emperor were formidable.
• When Chu Zhiyuan's procession stopped outside the South City Gate, a rider reported that evil sect Demonic Humans were lurking among the Great Meng guards and onlookers.
• Prince Song ordered the distant onlookers removed and, after learning Demonic Humans were also among the Imperial Guards, sent his grandson to summon replacements.

Prince Song and the Great Meng officials confronted Chu Zhiyuan over his claim that Demonic Humans from an evil sect had infiltrated the Imperial Guards. After Zhou Ling verified the two guards were Demonic Humans, an imperial decree authorized her to take them away for interrogation.

• Prince Song summoned grandmasters from the Phoenix Sect and discussed the possibility that Demonic Humans had infiltrated the Imperial Guards with Guo Pu and Hu Ping'an.
• A Great Jing knight delivered a letter to Prince Song, and a newly arrived group of Imperial Guards was checked and cleared.
• Zhou Ling examined the letter and followed Prince Song's secret instructions while he went to meet Chu Zhiyuan with Guo Pu and Hu Ping'an.
• Chu Zhiyuan identified two Imperial Guards as Tianxin Sect assassins, and Zhou Ling confirmed they were Demonic Humans by testing one man's Spine Pass.
• Prince Song's grandson returned with an imperial decree, and Zhou Ling took the two unconscious Demonic Humans away for interrogation.

After two Demonic Humans were exposed inside the Imperial Guard, Chu Zhiyuan warned Prince Song that the evil sects would soon try to assassinate him. As the delegation entered Tianjing, a staged panic scattered the crowd and more than a dozen experts charged at Chu Zhiyuan and Prince Song.

• Prince Song and Chu Zhiyuan discussed how Demonic Humans had infiltrated the Imperial Guard and the danger their new secret art posed to Great Meng.
• Chu Zhiyuan explained that his slaughter of Demonic Humans made him a target, and Prince Song admired his resolve.
• Chu Zhiyuan and Prince Song entered the city, where Chu Zhiyuan predicted an imminent assassination attempt.
• Prince Song had Hu Ping'an warn the Imperial Guard, and the commander added layers of protection around the delegation.
• Mad horses caused a crowd panic that pushed against the Imperial Guards, while more than a dozen experts leapt over them and charged at Chu Zhiyuan and Prince Song.

Chu Zhiyuan used his Flying Daggers to eliminate Evil Sect experts threatening the delegation as it traveled through Tianjing. Prince Song learned that more than two hundred demonic humans had been hiding in the city, and went to report the threat to the Emperor.

• Chu Zhiyuan told Prince Song that Evil Sect experts were hidden among the panicked crowd, and Prince Song recalled how an Evil Sect expert had devoured his Eighteenth Brother.
• After warning that the Imperial Guards would suffer losses if the Evil Sect experts used Mutual Destruction, Chu Zhiyuan gained Prince Song's permission to act.
• Chu Zhiyuan's eight Flying Daggers killed the Evil Sect fighters in the street, then struck another hidden group farther away.
• As the delegation continued toward Sifang Pavilion Street, Chu Zhiyuan's daggers attacked six times and killed more than two hundred Evil Sect demonic humans.
• Prince Song and the others realized that many more demonic humans might remain in Tianjing, and Prince Song entered the palace to report the danger and plead guilty.

Li Hongzhao and Prince Song discussed forming an Imperial Guard camp to hunt demonic humans and rewarding Chu Zhiyuan for helping stop their attack. Zhou Ling reported that the evil sects’ venerables had ordered their followers to kill Chu Zhiyuan and given them a concealment technique, though its users could not yet hide from him.

• Prince Song praised Chu Zhiyuan and urged Li Hongzhao to purge the evil sects’ demonic humans.
• Li Hongzhao ordered Prince Song to establish a camp from the Imperial Guard to hunt demonic humans, and he agreed despite the political risks.
• Li Hongzhao ordered Great Jing’s envoy group watched for Secret Agents and approved giving Chu Zhiyuan a bottle of Phoenix Undying Pills.
• Zhou Ling reported that the sect venerables had ordered their followers to kill Chu Zhiyuan and promised the killers’ souls would ascend to the higher heavens.
• Zhou Ling said the sects’ new secret technique concealed vital aura and presence from Grandmasters, but its users had not yet mastered it well enough to evade Chu Zhiyuan.

Li Hongzhao weighed whether Great Meng should help the Evil Sect kill Chu Zhiyuan, then chose to wait and see how the conflict unfolded. In Great Meng, Chu Zhiyuan found that the Venerable Statues were drawing in faith and learned that Great Meng had apparently captured the local Secret Agents, leaving him to consider how to respond.

• Li Hongzhao rejected the idea of openly joining forces with the Evil Sect and decided to observe Chu Zhiyuan before choosing whether to aid him or stay out of the conflict.
• Prince Song proposed using Chu Zhiyuan as bait to hunt the Evil Sect's Demonic Humans, while Zhou Ling warned that retaliation could be difficult to contain.
• Chu Zhiyuan examined the Emperor's Sword and the Venerable Statues, whose converging red threads suggested that another harvest of Demonic Humans could help complete his Deity Conferring Stage.
• Ma Tianhe told Chu Zhiyuan that Great Meng had likely uprooted the local Secret Agents and asked whether they could plead for their release.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked whether Great Meng's Secret Agent leaders in Jade Capital had been discovered, then pointed out that Great Meng had little reason to agree to their request.

Chu Zhiyuan investigated the disappearance of secret agent commander Xu Jingwen and traced him to a secluded mountain estate outside Tianjing. He found Xu alive and brought him to Ma Tianhe, though Xu’s relationship with a grandmaster from the Phoenix Sword Sect raised concerns.

• Ma Tianhe explained that Xu Jingwen’s capture could expose Great Jing’s secret agents, and Chu Zhiyuan agreed to investigate Xu’s residence.
• At Xu Jingwen’s courtyard, Chu Zhiyuan found two different strands of women’s hair and used Super Sensation to determine that Xu was alive and outside the city.
• Chu Zhiyuan tracked Xu and the woman to a hidden mountain estate, where he learned she was a grandmaster from the Phoenix Sword Sect.
• Chu Zhiyuan went to the estate and returned carrying Xu Jingwen, who greeted Ma Tianhe.

Chu Zhiyuan and Ma Tianhe met Xu Jingwen in his secret hideout, where he revealed that Tingyu Terrace was closing in and that he had fallen in love with a Phoenix Sword Sect disciple. Xu Jingwen chose to resign and remain in Great Meng with her, while Ma Tianhe prepared to take over until a successor arrived.

• Xu Jingwen told Chu Zhiyuan and Ma Tianhe that Tingyu Terrace had lost two of his Secret Agents and that he was hiding until he learned more about its mysterious tracker.
• Ma Tianhe revealed that Xu Jingwen's confidante was a Phoenix Sword Sect disciple, prompting concern that she might be targeting him or discover his identity.
• Chu Zhiyuan offered Xu Jingwen the choice to leave his post and stay in Great Meng with the woman, and Xu Jingwen decided to resign despite having a wife and two children.
• Chu Zhiyuan instructed Ma Tianhe to take over Xu Jingwen's duties temporarily and request a successor from the Supervisory Department.
• Xu Jingwen asked Chu Zhiyuan to grant his wish to remain with the woman, and Chu Zhiyuan told him to arrange the handover in a couple of days.

Xu Jingwen resigned from the Supervisory Department after Chu Zhiyuan agreed to let him leave, while Chu Zhiyuan ordered Ma Tianhe to investigate the powerful figure at Tingyu Terrace. Later, Chu Zhiyuan and Xiao Ruoling heard that thirty-two students from Great Lie had entered Great Meng’s Imperial Academy, prompting Chu Zhiyuan to suspect a political move against Great Jing.

• Chu Zhiyuan told Ma Tianhe that Xu Jingwen had knowingly chosen to leave and that the court should not punish a meritorious official for loving a Phoenix Sword Sect disciple.
• Ma Tianhe agreed to arrange Xu Jingwen’s handover, and Chu Zhiyuan ordered him to investigate the formidable figure at Tingyu Terrace.
• Xu Jingwen reassured Xuan'er that Chu Zhiyuan had let him resign and said they would move closer to Sifang Pavilion.
• Chu Zhiyuan and Xiao Ruoling strolled through Tianjing and then dined at a busy restaurant to hear local conversation.
• Chu Zhiyuan heard that thirty-two Great Lie students had entered Great Meng’s Imperial Academy and frowned at the suggestion that Great Meng meant to use them against Great Jing.

Chu Zhiyuan and Xiao Ruoling discussed Great Meng’s politics and the evil sect experts gathering around them in Tianjing. The assassins finally attacked, but Guo Chi and the others struck first, leaving the three attackers’ swords just short of Chu Zhiyuan.

• Chu Zhiyuan assessed Great Meng’s plan to use Great Lie against Great Jing and considered why Li Hongzhao enjoyed strong public support.
• Chu Zhiyuan and Xiao Ruoling observed Tianjing’s defenses and noticed that evil sect experts were surrounding the tavern.
• Chu Zhiyuan sensed that the attackers were about to move and told Zou Fang to warn Guo Chi and the others.
• Three young men drew their swords and attacked Chu Zhiyuan as they passed his table.
• Guo Chi and the others stabbed the three attackers from behind, while Chu Zhiyuan and Xiao Ruoling evaded their swords.

Chu Zhiyuan and Xiao Ruoling faced successive waves of Demonic Human assassins in a restaurant, while Chu Zhiyuan met Zhao Rongfei of the Golden Saber Sect. The attacks continued as Chu Zhiyuan calmly drank with Zhao Rongfei, his eight Flying Daggers killing the assailants without apparent guidance.

• Chu Zhiyuan explained to Xiao Ruoling that Demonic Humans would keep attacking him because they believed dying in an assassination would let their souls ascend to heaven.
• Eight assassins charged from the crowd, and Chu Zhiyuan's four Flying Daggers killed the four approaching him while Guo Chi and the others killed the rest.
• Zhao Rongfei introduced himself as a disciple of the Golden Saber Sect, recognized Chu Zhiyuan as the Fourth Heir Apparent of Great Jing, and praised his Flying Daggers.
• Chu Zhiyuan invited Zhao Rongfei to sit with him and explained that the daggers used an ancient Sword Control Technique.
• Chu Zhiyuan raised four more daggers and continued drinking with Zhao Rongfei as two successive groups of eight assassins attacked and were killed by the daggers.

Chu Zhiyuan’s Flying Daggers killed waves of evil-sect experts at Feixue Tavern, where he met Prayer Spirit Sect disciple Wan Bicheng. Wan Bicheng challenged him to test the daggers, and Chu Zhiyuan agreed to spar at Sifang Pavilion as they headed there through the city.

• Chu Zhiyuan told Zhao Rongfei how he had cultivated the Dragon Transformation Technique and Void Controlling Sword Scripture while the Flying Daggers killed more evil-sect attackers.
• Six City Guard soldiers arrived at Feixue Tavern, but another ten evil-sect experts charged inside and were killed by Chu Zhiyuan’s Flying Daggers.
• Wan Bicheng entered the tavern, admired Chu Zhiyuan’s Flying Daggers, and asked to test them in a match.
• Chu Zhiyuan agreed to meet Wan Bicheng at Sifang Pavilion for a swordsmanship exchange against the Flying Daggers.
• As Chu Zhiyuan, Zhao Rongfei, and Wan Bicheng crossed the city, the Flying Daggers killed thirty-three more evil-sect experts, while Wan Bicheng grew eager to fight.

Chu Zhiyuan demonstrated the Flying Dagger’s Way of Reality and Illusion to Zhao Rongfei and Wan Bicheng, then urged them to help unite the three dynasties against the evil sects. The three agreed to press the proposal forward despite opposition from the Imperial Court and others.

• Chu Zhiyuan reflected that killing the evil sects’ Demonic Humans had brought little progress and that he needed to draw out more grandmasters.
• Wan Bicheng and Zhao Rongfei each tested Chu Zhiyuan’s Flying Dagger and found that their attacks struck only its phantom before it stopped at their brows.
• Chu Zhiyuan explained that the dagger embodied the Way of Reality and Illusion, which he had comprehended while still a grandmaster.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Zhao Rongfei and Wan Bicheng about his battles against the evil sects and proposed that Great Jing, Great Meng, and Great Zhen destroy their headquarters together.
• Zhao Rongfei and Wan Bicheng agreed to enlist their sects and the Imperial Court, while Chu Zhiyuan explained that disbelief and political opposition had blocked similar cooperation before.

Chu Zhiyuan sought help from Great Meng and Great Zhen to destroy the evil sects’ main altars and the Demonic Beings from Beyond the Heavens. After arranging to meet other sect disciples, he returned to studying the Human Yuan Art for a way to defeat the demons.

• Chu Zhiyuan told Zhao Rongfei and Wan Bicheng that the evil sects could not be eradicated unless all three dynasties joined forces to destroy their main altars.
• Zhao Rongfei and Wan Bicheng agreed to seek support from Feng Zhidao and Lu Pu, and invited Chu Zhiyuan to a martial arts gathering.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked the two True Disciples to send him Venerable Statues so he could sense the evil sects’ demonic humans.
• Xiao Ruoling, Shen Hanyue, and Xu Yingying discussed the difficulties of fighting the evil sects with Chu Zhiyuan after Zhao Rongfei and Wan Bicheng left.
• Chu Zhiyuan resumed cultivating and studying the Taiqing Yuan Sect’s Human Yuan Art, hoping it would reveal a way to restrain the Demonic Beings from Beyond the Heavens.

Chu Zhiyuan wondered whether the forbidden Human Yuan Art could help him kill the Demonic Beings from Beyond the Heavens, while the evil sects changed tactics and watched rather than attacking. After a quiet outing and a report from Ma Tianhe, Chu Zhiyuan prepared to investigate who had recently entered Tingyu Terrace.

• Chu Zhiyuan considered using the Human Yuan Art to tear the souls from the Demonic Beings from Beyond the Heavens, but did not begin cultivating it.
• Chu Zhiyuan took Xiao Ruoling, Shen Hanyue, and Xu Yingying out for breakfast, while City Guards escorted them and evil sect members watched from a distance without attacking.
• Chu Zhiyuan realized the evil sects seemed to have shifted from trying to kill him to observing him, and he returned to the courtyard after eating and exploring with the three women.
• Ma Tianhe reported that the handover was complete, and Chu Zhiyuan ordered him to find out who had recently entered Tingyu Terrace.
• Chu Zhiyuan gave Ma Tianhe a Flying Dagger to use in an emergency, and news arrived that two crates of Venerable Statues had been delivered.

Chu Zhiyuan learned that Demonic Humans from the evil sects were gathering and warned that they might slaughter people in Tianjing to pressure Great Meng. Li Hongzhao received his letter and agreed to mobilize defenses and seek help, including from Chu Zhiyuan and other extraordinary people.

• Chu Zhiyuan examined the Venerable Statues and agreed to write a manual explaining the martial arts of the evil sects for ordinary masters.
• Chu Zhiyuan decided to return to the Jade Capital and sweep through it again, while warning Xiao Ruoling that Demonic Humans might cause trouble in Tianjing.
• Chu Zhiyuan wrote Li Hongzhao a letter warning that the evil sects were preparing widespread slaughter in Tianjing.
• Li Hongzhao read the letter to her ministers, who debated whether Chu Zhiyuan was warning them in good faith or pressuring Great Meng to join the three-dynasty pact.
• Li Hongzhao approved plans to strengthen Tianjing's defenses, search for Demonic Humans, and invite Chu Zhiyuan and other extraordinary people to help.

Li Hongzhao weighed whether Great Meng should join Chu Zhiyuan’s plan to eradicate the evil sects, while her ministers debated the risks and doubted the sects could be destroyed. She revealed her confidence in Chu Zhiyuan’s strength, then agreed to ask him to help deal with the Demonic Humans in Tianjing, but learned he had already returned to the Jade Capital.

• Li Hongzhao’s ministers warned that an agreement between the three dynasties could let Great Jing’s agents and martial artists exploit Great Meng.
• After reading Tingfeng Terrace’s dossiers, the ministers debated whether the evil sects should be attacked immediately or left alone for years.
• Li Hongzhao told the ministers that Chu Zhiyuan possessed fifty to eighty percent of the Emperor’s Sword’s power and could slaughter Great Meng’s Grandmasters if the sword did not restrain him.
• Li Hongzhao chose to wait before agreeing to the three-dynasty plan and asked Su Qiuyan to invite Chu Zhiyuan to eradicate the evil sects’ Demonic Humans in Tianjing.
• Li Hongzhao ordered the Ministry of Rites to recruit people skilled in tracking arts, then learned that Chu Zhiyuan had left Tianjing for the Jade Capital.

Li Hongzhao learned that Chu Zhiyuan had returned to Jade Capital to hunt the evil sects’ Demonic Humans, while her forces struggled to find them all. Chu Zhiyuan then appeared in Tianjing City, where he slaughtered evil sect experts and continued gathering power for the Deity Conferring Stage.

• Li Hongzhao decided that the Emperor’s Sword might be needed to purge the Demonic Humans, but agreed to let Grandmasters search first when she heard Chu Zhiyuan expected to return quickly.
• The Imperial Guard and City Guard reported finding thirteen and twenty-one Demonic Humans respectively, though Li Hongzhao doubted they had uncovered them all and ordered more forces deployed.
• Su Qiuyan told Li Hongzhao that Chu Zhiyuan would likely return late, but Wen Huaien soon reported that he had entered the city and killed more than a hundred evil sect experts.
• Li Hongzhao sent Su Qiuyan to clean up after Chu Zhiyuan and watched toward the palace gates as he continued his assault in Tianjing City.
• Chu Zhiyuan thanked Wan Bicheng and Zhao Rongfei for their Venerable Statues while his Flying Daggers killed evil sect experts and advanced the Deity Conferring Stage.

Chu Zhiyuan helped Su Qiuyan hunt Demonic Humans across Tianjing, killing more than two thousand with his flying daggers. Back at Sifang Pavilion, he reached the Transformation Realm and discovered he could perceive the world through a flying dagger far away.

• Chu Zhiyuan sent eight flying daggers after Demonic Humans, then released eight more and killed targets throughout the crowd.
• Su Qiuyan told Chu Zhiyuan that His Majesty had asked him to help fight the Demonic Humans, and the onlookers called for their eradication.
• Chu Zhiyuan swept across Tianjing’s six busiest central avenues and killed more than two thousand Demonic Humans before returning to Sifang Pavilion.
• Chu Zhiyuan meditated in his courtyard as his bright moon transformed, marking his breakthrough from the Deity Conferring Stage into the Transformation Realm.
• Chu Zhiyuan sent a flying dagger a hundred li away and realized he could see through it while retaining his own perspective.