Chapter Summaries

Xiao Feng rejected Bai Nishang and the cultivators who had exploited mortals, while Gu Zang killed Bai Nishang and captured her soul. Li Yang revealed himself and challenged the gathered cultivators to fight, and Ning Xinyao gave Xiao Feng an extraordinary sword.

• Xiao Feng confronted Bai Nishang for betraying the bridal procession and declared that she would rather die than submit to the cultivators.
• Gu Zang strangled Bai Nishang, then used his Soul Banner to seize her soul.
• Gu Zang identified Ning Xinyao as Lu Feng's third disciple and tried to sow distrust between her, Li Yang, and Xiao Feng.
• Li Yang removed his disguise and warned the gathered cultivators to leave or fight him to the death.
• Ning Xinyao handed Xiao Feng a sealed sword, and Li Yang recognized that it possessed a sword spirit.

Li Yang rejected Ning Xinyao’s plan to bring mortal Xiao Feng into battle, then took up the Phoenix Sword and charged the Golden Dragon. After severing one of the dragon’s claws, he faced the remaining prodigies as Gu Zang urged them to attack together.

• Ning Xinyao gave Xiao Feng a sword with a sword spirit and proposed that Li Yang take her into battle, but Li Yang scolded her for risking Xiao Feng’s life.
• Ning Xinyao offered a Silver Talisman to leave, but Li Yang instead asked Xiao Feng to let him wield the sword.
• The sword resisted Li Yang until his slaughter sword intent emerged, after which he calmed it and identified Xiao Feng as both herself and the Ning Household Ancestor.
• Li Yang warned Xiao Feng that he would cut her down if she caused the same disasters in her next mortal transfiguration, then left the pill furnace’s protective range with the Phoenix Sword.
• Li Yang charged the Golden Dragon and used the Phoenix Sword to sever one of its claws.
• Gu Zang urged the Foundation Establishment prodigies to attack Li Yang together, arguing that they should not fear a first-level Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Li Yang slaughtered the attackers with the Phoenix Sword until Gu Zang summoned the Seven Emotions Demon Venerable. As Li Yang faced the demon and the Six Desires Demon Venerable revealed himself nearby, Lu Feng sent three Mystic Heaven Sword Sect prodigies to reinforce him while he and Senior Yuan went to attack the demon venerables' true bodies.

• Li Yang and the Phoenix Sword killed the prodigies attacking him, leaving only Gu Zang after Li Yang slew the Supreme Truth Jade Radiance Palace cultivator and stopped one fleeing disciple.
• Gu Zang began summoning his master, unleashing demonic qi that drove creatures mad and transformed the landscape.
• Gu Zang's domain showed Li Yang visions of his family's suffering, but the Phoenix Sword awakened him and he attacked Gu Zang with renewed fury.
• Ning Xinyao warned Li Yang that Gu Zang was possessed by the Seven Emotions Demon Venerable, while Xuan Shi revealed that the Six Desires Demon Venerable had found Li Yang.
• Lu Feng ordered three Mystic Heaven Sword Sect prodigies to reinforce Li Yang and went with Senior Yuan to attack the Seven Emotions Demon Venerable's body and the Six Desires Demon Venerable.

Li Yang broke free of the Seven Emotions Demon Venerable’s illusions and killed him with a single sword strike. The Six Desires Demon Venerable then seized Xiao Feng as a hostage, but Li Yang answered his demands by attacking.

• The Seven Emotions Demon Venerable trapped Li Yang in visions that tested his desires, but Li Yang’s resolve to kill demons shattered the illusions.
• Li Yang cleaved the Seven Emotions Demon Venerable in half, killing him and freeing himself from the Seven Emotions Killing Secret Art.
• The Six Desires Demon Venerable, possessing Xuan Shi, ambushed Ning Xinyao and Xiao Feng and took Xiao Feng hostage.
• The Six Desires Demon Venerable demanded that Li Yang cripple his cultivation or hand over his sword, but Li Yang refused.
• Li Yang raised the Phoenix Sword and slashed at the Six Desires Demon Venerable.

Li Yang killed Xiao Feng and the Six Desires Demon Venerable, then learned the commandery-wide crisis had been a planned operation that had drawn the Ning Household Ancestor’s mortalized body into danger. After the other cultivators fled the arrival of a terrifying power, a divine phoenix figure appeared before Li Yang and greeted him as her immortal master.

• Li Yang killed Xiao Feng and the Six Desires Demon Venerable with the Phoenix Sword, then slapped Ning Xinyao for warning the demon venerable.
• Li Yang told three Mystic Heaven Sword Sect senior disciples that he had killed Xiao Feng and explained that her death had helped slay the Six Desires Demon Venerable’s split soul.
• Li Yang realized the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect, Sword Alliance, and Dao Alliance had planned the Yongning Commandery operation, and that the innocent Ning Household Ancestor had been caught up in it.
• Li Yang joined the senior disciples in purging evil fiends, then met Su Hen, who apologized for fleeing when the Seven-Star Sword Formation collapsed.
• Lu Feng, a Heaven-Earth Sword Sect ancestor, and a Sword Alliance expert each arrived and quickly left Li Yang behind, with the Sword Alliance expert giving him a token.
• A crimson-gold divine phoenix figure descended, froze heaven and earth, and greeted Li Yang: “Immortal Master, we meet again.”

Li Yang faced Ning Qingfeng after killing her mortalized body, Xiao Feng, and explained why he had acted without hesitation when she was held hostage. Ning Qingfeng spared him, recognized his blunt nature, and ended by inviting him to praise her beauty.

• Li Yang knelt before Ning Qingfeng and offered her the Phoenix Sword, apologizing for killing Xiao Feng.
• Ning Qingfeng rebuked Li Yang for ending her mortal transfiguration and demanded to know why he had killed her mortalized body.
• Li Yang explained that he struck to prevent someone important to him from suffering and said his choice had nothing to do with Xiao Feng's identity.
• Ning Qingfeng examined the Ning Lineage girl's memories, concluded Li Yang had acted without knowing or caring who Xiao Feng was, and called him a sword madman with fearsome potential.
• Li Yang asked Ning Qingfeng for a Second-Rank Nine-Pattern Spirit Sword if she wished to invest in him, then praised her as beautiful when she invited his frank opinion.

Ning Qingfeng tested Li Yang’s willingness to face death, then used her cultivation to resurrect the mortals killed by the evil fiends in Yongning Commandery. Despite Li Yang’s admiration, she killed him in divine flame to repay his killing of her mortalized body.

• Ning Qingfeng drew Li Yang into an illusion where he sacrificed himself rather than let an evil fiend use him to coerce his senior sister.
• After the illusion ended, Ning Qingfeng decided she had no right to punish Li Yang, then asked whether he blamed her for the mortals’ deaths.
• Ning Qingfeng used her phoenix nirvana immortal body to reverse karma and resurrect the dead mortals across Yongning Commandery.
• When Li Yang praised her compassion, Ning Qingfeng burned him to ashes, saying she had to kill him once for fairness.

After Ning Qingfeng’s intervention remade Li Yang’s body and greatly improved his cultivation aptitude, he woke in the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect and discovered he had reached the second layer of Foundation Establishment. He invited his enemies to fight him, then mistook his new junior sister Ning Xi for Ning Qingfeng and pleaded with her to stop haunting him.

• Li Yang sensed that Ning Qingfeng’s intervention had opened and remade his meridians, then advanced to the second layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Li Yang read his accumulated jade-slip messages, learned of the danger posed by his killings in Yongning Commandery, and invited his critics and enemies to challenge him in the sect’s Life-and-Death Arena.
• Li Yang received a message from his new junior sister, Ning Xi, and rushed to her treehouse after challenging her to a fight.
• Lu Feng arrived and rebuked Li Yang for frightening Ning Xi, then gave him sect robes and a direct disciple token.
• Lu Feng explained that Ning Xi belonged to the Ancient Immortal Ning Lineage and was not Ning Qingfeng’s incarnation, but Li Yang remained convinced she was Ning Qingfeng and begged her to stop haunting him.

After lighting their Soul Lamps, Li Yang and Ning Xi returned to Crane-Cry Peak, where Lu Feng announced an upcoming secret realm and arranged for Li Yang to enter under an assumed identity. Lu Feng also revealed that the realm may hold a slaughter Dao legacy and urged Li Yang to keep it from a powerful evil sword cultivator.

• Lu Feng took Li Yang and Ning Xi to the Fate Soul Hall, where they lit their Soul Lamps, then brought them back to Crane-Cry Peak to meet the other disciples.
• Ning Xinyao revealed that she had reached the Golden Core Realm through repeated cultivation cycles and teased Li Yang about their past interactions.
• Lu Feng announced that the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm would open in twenty-eight days and suppress entrants to mortal cultivation, but Crane-Cry Peak had no places left.
• Lu Feng arranged for Li Yang to take the vacant place belonging to Qin Feng and disguise himself as that Sect Master Peak disciple.
• After speaking with Li Yang alone, Lu Feng said the immortal likely cultivated the slaughter Dao and warned that an evil sword cultivator from the Xuanyuan Sword Sect, ranked first on Qian Province’s Golden Core Heavenly Prodigy Ranking, might pursue the legacy.

Li Yang disguised himself as Qin Feng and discovered that Qin Feng had been exploited and insulted by his senior sisters for Ye Zhiqiu’s sake. After reaching Qin Feng’s cave abode, Li Yang found that Qin Feng had even diverted its spiritual energy to herb gardens, then was accused of stealing Ye Zhiqiu’s sword.

• Li Yang arrived at Sect Master Peak disguised as Qin Feng, and Jiang Qingci demanded the premium Divine Origin Fruit he had failed to bring her.
• Jiang Qingci berated Li Yang and praised Ye Zhiqiu, while Li Yang realized Qin Feng had been giving her valuable herbs without receiving pills in return.
• Li Yang told Jiang Qingci not to forgive him and went to Qin Feng’s cave abode, where he discovered Qin Feng had diverted its spiritual energy to the herb gardens.
• Li Yang picked up a second-rank sword engraved with “Ye,” and Qin Feng’s third senior sister burst in, accusing him of stealing the sword forged for Ye Zhiqiu.
• Ye Zhiqiu acted wounded and urged his third senior sister to leave the sword with Li Yang, but she demanded that Li Yang return it and kneel to apologize.

Li Yang humiliated Third Senior Sister and Ye Zhiqiu, then nearly fought them to the death before Sect Master Ling Wujie intervened. Ling reforged Li Yang’s sword, and Li Yang left to face the challengers gathered at Duel Sword Peak.

• Li Yang mocked Third Senior Sister for wasting premium materials on a weak spirit sword and insulted her forging skills.
• Li Yang invited Ye Zhiqiu to kneel for an apology, then kicked him in the face and sent him crashing through trees.
• Third Senior Sister attacked Li Yang, who drew the sword and struck back with lethal force until Ling Wujie stopped them both.
• Ling Wujie refused to punish Li Yang, reforged Ye Zhiqiu’s sword into an eight-marking spirit sword, and told Li Yang about the death-match challengers.
• Ling Wujie told Third Senior Sister that he had saved her from Li Yang and hoped he would teach her and the other disciples the harshness of the world.
• Li Yang left as outside-sect prodigies gathered at Duel Sword Peak and demanded to fight him.

A cultivator from the Five Elements Dharma Palace came to the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect seeking revenge on Li Yang and humiliated the sect’s disciples in combat. Just as he prepared to leave after no one else stepped forward, Qin Feng entered the arena and challenged the visitors to the death.

• Outstanding talents from other sects arrived at the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect, demanding that Li Yang face them for killing one of their juniors.
• A Five Elements Dharma Palace cultivator defeated Wang Liexiao and Senior Brother Zhou, then taunted the Sword Cultivators and demanded Li Yang appear.
• Su Miao entered the arena, but the Five Elements Dharma Palace cultivator refused to fight her and mocked the sect’s male disciples for hiding.
• As the visiting cultivators began to leave, Qin Feng landed in the arena and declared that he had come to take all their lives.

Li Yang, posing as Qin Feng, provoked Chu Du and signed a life-and-death contract despite Su Miao’s attempts to stop him. As Chu Du attacked with his Five Organs Manifestation, a sword rang out, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Li Yang mocked Chu Du and used Qin Feng’s history with a mortal woman to insult the Five Elements Dharma Palace.
• Su Miao stepped in to shield Li Yang from Chu Du’s killing pressure, but Li Yang kicked her aside and told her to leave.
• Li Yang and Chu Du signed a life-and-death contract, and the arena’s formation enclosed them so no one could interfere.
• Chu Du summoned five elemental palms with his Prison-Suppressing Hand, while the onlookers expected Qin Feng to be overwhelmed.
• A piercing sword ring sounded as Chu Du’s attack closed in on Li Yang.

Li Yang fought Chu Du on the Life-and-Death Arena, seizing Chu Du’s flying sword and using it to take to the air. He Lu’s arrival revealed that Qin Feng had given his resources to his senior sisters, and Su Miao defended him as the fight continued.

• Li Yang split Chu Du’s Hell-Prison Hands, then intercepted Chu Du’s flying sword with his injured hand and refined it.
• Li Yang mounted the captured sword and flew, startling the onlookers with his growing aura.
• He Lu arrived and accused Qin Feng of stealing the sword she had forged for their youngest junior brother.
• Su Miao realized Qin Feng had given his resources to his senior sisters and defended his fight to protect the sect’s honor.
• A female cultivator asked whether Qin Feng had given away his resources and lacked a flying sword, and He Lu evaded the question.

Li Yang killed Chu Du and another visiting prodigy in the Life-and-Death Arena, then provoked the remaining challengers to keep fighting. As he recovered from his wounds, a rough-looking man entered the arena, and Li Yang identified him as a demon cultivator.

• Li Yang feigned weakness against Chu Du, then killed him and took his resources despite an elder's attempt to intervene.
• Li Yang rejected Su Miao's concern and taunted the visiting prodigies into challenging him.
• A luxurious, unnamed Golden Core cultivator challenged Li Yang and was split in two; Li Yang collected his resources and treated his wounds.
• Wang Liexiao reconsidered his belief that Inner Sword Cultivators were superior to Outer Sword Cultivators after witnessing Li Yang's resolve.
• A rough-looking man entered the arena to attack the wounded Li Yang, who recognized the man's demonic qi and declared his intent to kill demon cultivators.

Li Yang defeated and killed Yuan Sha, who had entered the arena to avenge his friend Xuan Shi, then challenged the remaining prodigies. As the crowd refused to fight, an enraged voice outside the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect accused the sect of killing another beloved disciple.

• Yuan Sha revealed his Hundred-Battle Demon Body and attacked Li Yang, declaring he would avenge Xuan Shi.
• Li Yang pierced Yuan Sha's defenses, and after a prolonged fight gained the advantage with his speed and swordsmanship.
• Yuan Sha pleaded not to become a trophy in a campaign against demons, but Li Yang explained why he believed the righteous path's rules restrained people while Demon Cultivators' sincerity could lead to chaos.
• Li Yang pierced Yuan Sha's chest and shredded his head, then challenged the other revenge-seeking prodigies, who suspected a trap and refused to fight.
• As Li Yang prepared to leave the arena, an enraged voice outside the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect accused it of killing another of the speaker's beloved disciples.

Li Yang defied the elders who came to the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect seeking revenge for the prodigies he killed, while the sect’s leaders defended him. The elders threatened him over the upcoming secret realm in Immortal Relic Province, and Li Yang eagerly anticipated meeting their descendants there.

• Elders of the slain prodigies confronted the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect, accused Li Yang of murdering their descendants, and demanded an explanation.
• Lu Feng defended Li Yang by citing the orders of the Dao Alliance and Sword Alliance, while the elders threatened the sect and warned Li Yang to conceal his abilities.
• Li Yang openly insulted the elders and their descendants, declared that the slain juniors deserved their deaths, and promised further revenge if anyone harmed him.
• An old woman threatened that Li Yang would be vulnerable in the upcoming secret realm in Immortal Relic Province, where grudges could be settled beyond the sect’s protection.
• Li Yang welcomed the prospect of meeting the descendants in the secret realm and cited the rule that grudges from within it could not be carried outside.

After Li Yang returned to Sect Master Peak wounded from Duel Sword Peak, he rejected his senior sisters and confronted Ye Zhiqiu over his attempts to give them resources. Several women reconsidered their treatment of Li Yang, while Ye Zhiqiu’s system warned him that he had three months to conquer a bound fairy or be erased.

• Li Yang returned to Sect Master Peak to recover, but refused to let Su Miao and the four other women enter and accused them of taking his tribute for granted.
• Su Miao reminded Jiang Qingci, He Lu, Du Tinglan, and Mu Ling'er how they had benefited from Li Yang’s resources while favoring Ye Zhiqiu.
• Ye Zhiqiu arrived with gifts for the women, prompting Li Yang to threaten to kill him if he insulted him again.
• Du Tinglan and Mu Ling'er returned Ye Zhiqiu’s gifts and acknowledged their debt to Li Yang, while Su Miao warned Ye Zhiqiu to avoid provoking him.
• Jiang Qingci and He Lu left with Ye Zhiqiu, and his system reported declining favorability scores and ordered him to conquer one bound fairy within three months or be erased.

Li Yang agreed to keep Qin Feng as his servant while continuing to impersonate him, after Qin Ge handed over Qin Feng’s soul blood and gifts for the secret realm. Left outside the cabin, Qin Feng learned what Li Yang had done under his identity and began questioning what it meant to be a Sword Cultivator.

• Li Yang met Qin Ge, Qin Feng’s father, who asked him to keep Qin Feng close and teach him how to conduct himself, especially around female cultivators.
• Li Yang demanded a way to control Qin Feng, and Qin Ge gave him Qin Feng’s soul blood, a Hundred-Flower Mask, and a Spatial-Shift Talisman.
• After Qin Ge and Ling Wujie left, Li Yang slapped Qin Feng into the Spirit Herb Garden and warned him to behave like a servant, threatening to kill him with the soul blood.
• Qin Feng asked sect disciples what Li Yang had done under his identity and heard them praise the supposed change in Qin Feng.
• Qin Feng recalled his childhood question about what a Sword Cultivator was and began asking himself the same question again.

Li Yang traveled with the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect toward the secret realm in Immortal Relic Province and met Yan Zhaoxi, a gifted sword cultivator whose proposed match with him was rejected by his master. When Ning Xinyao asked him to shield Ning Xi from her suitors, Li Yang refused angrily, and another cultivator stepped forward to help them.

• Li Yang and Qin Feng joined the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect expedition, which traveled through Mysterious Heaven City to Kunyuan Immortal City.
• At Kunyuan Immortal City, the sect encountered the Green Lotus Sword Sect, whose elder proposed pairing Yan Zhaoxi with Lu Feng's disciple Li Yang, but Lu Feng claimed Li Yang's aptitude was poor and declined.
• Li Yang admired Yan Zhaoxi's immaculate sword heart and wondered why Lu Feng had rejected the proposal.
• Ning Xinyao and Ning Xi asked Li Yang to act as Ning Xi's shield against her suitors, but he cursed at them and refused.
• Ning Xinyao stormed off while Ning Xi watched Li Yang with interest, and an unidentified cultivator called after them and offered to help.