Chapter Summaries

Lu Changfeng entered Youzhou undercover to investigate the killings and a possible traitor inside the Governor's Office. While watching the sealed Liu Family estate, he saw a mysterious woman carrying a bundle with intense killing intent escape into an alley, and realized Snow Robe could sense the object but could not see its treasure light.

• Lin Xiong questioned Lu Changfeng at the city gate and warned him about Xu Lu and the recent gruesome murders.
• Lu Changfeng decided to conceal his identity, investigate Youzhou discreetly, and obtain a Travel Permit through Qing Dai.
• Lu Changfeng examined the sealed Liu Family estate and suspected the killings targeted particular locations rather than merely the victims.
• Shen Bao confronted a Woman in Black outside the Liu estate, but she evaded the soldiers and disappeared into an alley.
• Lu Changfeng found that Snow Robe sensed the killing intent of the woman's bundle but saw no treasure light, and he set out to find her.

Lu Changfeng followed Wang Jingxian and established that her Army-Breaker Sword was a righteous weapon, not the source of the household slaughters. Wang Jingxian suspected the killer was using victims’ blood to reactivate something buried at ancient battlefield sites, and the two turned to the details of the victims’ wounds.

• Lu Changfeng found Wang Jingxian in a dead-end alley and introduced himself as Yun Fan, a merchant.
• Wang Jingxian explained that she had come to investigate the abnormal baleful aura and denied being the household killer.
• Lu Changfeng recognized the Army-Breaker Sword as Wang Jian’s weapon and argued that its righteous aura differed from the killer’s sinister malice.
• Wang Jingxian described how the attacked estates might lie over ancient battlefield focal points where the killer could be using blood to awaken buried Blood Soul Swords or other evil weapons.
• Lu Changfeng asked whether Wang Jingxian had examined the victims’ wounds and found anything.

Lu Changfeng learned from Wang Jingxian how specialized scabbards could conceal evil weapons and enlisted Snow Robe to search Youzhou for the materials used to make them. Snow Robe surveyed the city from a hill and found something before sunset.

• Wang Jingxian explained that varying wounds might mean several killers and that scabbards made from rare materials could hide their weapons' killing intent.
• She described four materials commonly used in scabbards, and Lu Changfeng decided to search for those materials and the people who worked with them.
• Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian agreed to investigate together and meet at the Happy Forest tavern before sunset.
• Lu Changfeng took Qing Dai, Mo Li, and Snow Robe to a hill overlooking Youzhou, where he asked Snow Robe to search the city for the materials.
• Snow Robe used its vision to scan Youzhou and suddenly announced that it had found something.

Lu Changfeng and Qing Dai infiltrated Jade Cloud Garden after Snow Robe tracked Northern Sea Flood Shark hide there, and they identified a guarded courtyard as the likely source. Murong Ying confronted them in an alley and ordered his fighters to attack, leaving Lu Changfeng facing an ambush.

• Snow Robe located Northern Sea Flood Shark hide in Jade Cloud Garden, and Qing Dai identified the Murong Family as the power behind the gambling house.
• Lu Changfeng and Qing Dai entered Jade Cloud Garden in disguise and searched the estate while Snow Robe tracked the hide’s aura to a guarded courtyard.
• After the steward noticed their interest, Lu Changfeng ended the visit and left with Qing Dai.
• Murong Ying and his men confronted Lu Changfeng in an alley, then attacked from both ends as Lu Changfeng prepared to fight.

Lu Changfeng defeated Murong Ying and questioned him about the Murong Family’s Hidden Edge Sword Scabbards. Murong Ying blamed Xu Lu for coercing the family, but Lu Changfeng saw through his performance and demanded a different story at Jade Cloud Garden the next day.

• Lu Changfeng evaded the Guards’ attacks with Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens and disabled several of them with sword qi.
• Murong Ying summoned his dharma form and attacked Lu Changfeng with the Rushing Thunder Sword Art, but Lu Changfeng broke his sword and severed his sword arm with one strike.
• Lu Changfeng forced Murong Ying to confirm that the workshop in Jade Cloud Garden made Hidden Edge Sword Scabbards from Northern Sea Flood Shark hide.
• Murong Ying claimed Xu Lu had captured his sister, Murong Zhi, and was forcing the Murong Family to make the scabbards, but Lu Changfeng recognized the story as an act.
• Lu Changfeng told the steward that Yun Fan would return to Jade Cloud Garden at noon the next day, then left with Qing Dai as the Murong Family’s experts arrived.

After learning that Murong Ying’s arm could not be healed, Murong Qianqiu and his allies planned to eliminate Yun Fan before he exposed the Murong Family’s dealings with Xu Lu. Xu Lu agreed to join the attack at midnight, and Murong Qianqiu demanded compensation for the added risk.

• The physician told Murong Qianqiu and the others that Murong Ying’s severed arm could not be reattached because Sword Qi had destroyed its vitality.
• Murong Wanli warned that Yun Fan’s discovery of the Hidden Edge Scabbards could expose the Murong Family’s connection to Xu Lu and bring Xue Ne against them.
• Murong Qianqiu decided they had to remove Yun Fan before he could report them, while Cui Wuying cautioned that attacking him in Youzhou City would be difficult.
• Eight masked men carrying Flood Shark Hidden Edge Scabbards arrived, and their leader agreed to act with the Murong Family against Yun Fan at midnight.
• Murong Qianqiu demanded compensation from Xu Lu because Yun Fan’s interference had created unexpected risks for the Murong Family.

Xu Lu enlisted the Murong Family to ambush Yun Fan at the Changlong Workshop that night, while Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian independently identified the workshop as the likely site of the next massacre. The chapter ended with both sides converging on the same location.

• Xu Lu promised Murong Qianqiu the Thunderclap Sword’s core tempering method in exchange for helping kill Yun Fan and ordered the ambush at the Changlong Workshop.
• Murong Qianqiu ordered the Iron Guard to assemble under Attendants Chu and Cui for a midnight attack on the workshop.
• Lu Changfeng told Wang Jingxian how he had traced the Murong Family’s Scabbard-Making Workshop, while Snow Robe silently took credit for helping him.
• Wang Jingxian showed Lu Changfeng that several massacre sites aligned with ancient battlefield burial grounds where killing intent had accumulated.
• Wang Jingxian marked the Changlong Workshop as the most likely site of another massacre, and Lu Changfeng said they needed to plan carefully.

Lu Changfeng fought off a coordinated assassination attempt by Chu Zhenyue, Cui Wuying, and eight swordsmen, using Opening-and-Closing Hands and his Origin-Returning Qi Barrier. After an unknown swordsman wounded the attackers outside, Lu Changfeng injured both Grandmasters, but Murong Wanli arrived with the Thunderclap Sword.

• Chu Zhenyue and Cui Wuying ambushed Lu Changfeng in his room, but he deflected their attacks with Opening-and-Closing Hands.
• Eight black-clad swordsmen controlled flying swords from outside and joined the assault, forcing Lu Changfeng to defend himself with his Origin-Returning Qi Barrier.
• A dark-red Army-Breaker Sword-Sweeping the Six Directions struck the eight swordsmen, grievously injuring them and dropping their flying swords.
• Lu Changfeng used the opening to wound Chu Zhenyue and Cui Wuying with Opening-and-Closing Hands.
• Murong Wanli arrived at the ruined room with the sixth-tier Divine Weapon, the Thunderclap Sword.

Murong Wanli unleashed the Heavenly Thunder Draw against Wang Jingxian, but Lu Changfeng struck him down before he could win the clash. He fled to Changlong Workshop, found his ambush gone, and was cornered by Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian before launching a final, life-draining attack.

• Murong Wanli used the Heavenly Thunder Draw to attack Wang Jingxian, whose Army-Breaker Sword met his lightning strike head-on.
• Lu Changfeng exploited Murong Wanli's distraction to wound him with a swift sword-qi strike, and Murong Wanli fled toward Changlong Workshop.
• Murong Wanli found the workshop empty of the Murong Iron Guards, Xu Lu's men, and its residents, while Lu Changfeng explained that the planned ambush had failed.
• Wang Jingxian deduced that Lu Changfeng had used the Plum Blossom Guards to evacuate and replace the workshop's inhabitants, and she suspected he was Yun Fan.
• Murong Wanli refused to surrender, ignited his essence blood, and unleashed a massive pillar of lightning at Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian.

Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian survived Murong Wanli’s final lightning strike, but Xu Lu appeared and revealed that his Blood Soul Sub-Swords had consumed the blood of slaughtered households to awaken the ancient battlefield’s killing intent. The eight swordsmen sacrificed their wounded companions and then turned their blood swords on themselves as the ritual began.

• Lu Changfeng pulled Wang Jingxian out of the path of Murong Wanli’s lightning strike, and Murong Wanli died as the Thunderclap Sword fell from his hand.
• Wang Jingxian thanked Lu Changfeng, who warned that the stirred killing intent remained dangerous and needed to be channeled and dispelled.
• Xu Lu appeared with eight masked swordsmen carrying the eight gravely wounded men Wang Jingxian had defeated.
• Xu Lu explained that sixteen Blood Soul Sub-Swords had consumed the blood of six slaughtered households and used their grievance qi to awaken the ancient battlefield’s killing intent.
• The eight swordsmen drained their wounded companions with their blood swords, then turned the blades on their own throats as Wang Jingxian prepared to attack.

Xu Lu activated the Blood Soul formation to unleash the ancient battlefield’s killing intent, but Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian were joined by Xue Ne and his soldiers to contain it. As the battle turned against Xu Lu, the legendary swords Gan Jiang and Mo Xie descended toward the sealed formation.

• Xu Lu activated the sixteen Blood Soul subsidiary swords and triggered the underground killing intent, while Lu Changfeng used the [Eight Formations Diagram] to try to seal it.
• Wang Jingxian supported Lu Changfeng with her true qi, but their barrier struggled against the ancient battlefield’s force.
• Xue Ne arrived with [Wu-Swallowing], combined his martial energy with Lu Changfeng’s barrier, and ordered his soldiers to form the Heavenly Moon Formation around Changlong Ward.
• Two thousand soldiers joined Xue Ne and Lu Changfeng in sealing the blood-red formation and suppressing Xu Lu’s killing intent.
• Two ancient swords, one crimson and one deep blue, descended toward the battlefield, and Lu Changfeng recognized them as Gan Jiang and Mo Xie.

Gan Jiang and Mo Xie awakened and unleashed the ancient battlefield’s killing intent, threatening the Black-Armored Cavalry’s barrier. Xu Lu used the chaos to temper his Blood Soul Mother Sword, while the twin swords intercepted Xue Ne and left him unable to reach him.

• Gan Jiang and Mo Xie struck the center of the formation, drawing power from the sixteen Blood Soul Child Swords and erupting with the battlefield’s killing intent.
• The killing-intent pillar battered the barrier, injuring the soldiers maintaining it and forcing Xue Ne and Lu Changfeng to struggle to hold the formation.
• Xu Lu revealed himself and opened the Heaven-and-Earth Great Furnace formation, using its flames to temper the Blood Soul Mother Sword.
• Xue Ne charged Xu Lu to stop him, but Gan Jiang and Mo Xie rose and attacked, countering his spear techniques and blocking his advance.

Lu Changfeng used the Four Symbols Sun-Shooting Arrows to kill Xu Lu and help the Black Armor Army contain the Killing Intent. Gan Jiang and Mo Xie escaped with the Blood Soul mother sword toward Swordforging City, and Lu Changfeng recognized their destination.

• Lu Changfeng took Qing Dai’s bow and fired three arrows in succession, breaking through Xu Lu’s Killing Intent defenses and wounding him.
• Lu Changfeng’s Wind and Thunder Formation Disks disrupted the Heaven-Covering Formation as he fired the Black Tortoise Arrow, killing Xu Lu.
• The Killing Intent pillar lost its guiding core and began to fall under the Black Armor Army Formation’s control.
• Gan Jiang and Mo Xie escaped Xue Ne and carried off the Blood Soul mother sword toward the northwest without being pursued.
• Wang Jingxian checked on Lu Changfeng, who looked toward the direction of Swordforging City.

After Xu Lu’s defeat, Xue Ne thanked Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian, appointed them to help secure Youzhou, and ordered the troops to contain the killing intent and investigate the Murong family. Lu Changfeng found Xu Lu’s Heaven-Covering Formation Disk, which resonated with his Wind-and-Thunder Formation Disk and revealed new formation knowledge to him.

• Xue Ne thanked Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian for stopping Xu Lu, and Wang Jingxian presented her appointment as Youzhou Governor’s Office Marching Sima.
• Lu Changfeng revealed his identity as a secret investigator for Princess Taiping, and Xue Ne explained Xu Lu’s ties to Swordforging City and the continuing threat from the Göktürks.
• Xue Ne ordered Lin Xiong to contain the killing intent and reinforce the western wall, then sent Shen Bao to arrest Murong Qianqiu and his core clansmen.
• Xue Ne invited Lu Changfeng and Wang Jingxian to rest at the Governor’s Office, while Lu Changfeng searched Xu Lu’s corpse and found the Xu Clan Forging Arts and Heaven-Covering Formation Disk.
• Lu Changfeng brought the Heaven-Covering Formation Disk into contact with his Wind-and-Thunder Formation Disk, and their resonance poured knowledge of the formation and its links to the other seven formations into his mind.

Lu Changfeng treated Wang Jingxian’s backlash from the Army-Breaker Sword and uncovered more about the threat posed by Swordforging City. After receiving the Medical Canon’s reward, he underwent a major physical and spiritual transformation and advanced to the peak of the fourth realm.

• Lu Changfeng claimed the Heaven-Covering Formation disk, and Xue Ne gave him the Thunderclap Sword and sixteen Blood Soul Sub-Swords as spoils.
• Lu Changfeng noticed Wang Jingxian’s injuries from the Army-Breaker Sword and promised to treat her at the Governor’s Office.
• Lu Changfeng prescribed medicine and used acupuncture to ease Wang Jingxian’s backlash as they discussed her resolve to guard Youzhou and the likely schemes involving Gan Jiang and Mo Xie.
• Lu Changfeng completed Wang Jingxian’s treatment and accepted the reward of a max-level Indestructible Golden Body.
• Lu Changfeng’s body and divine sense transformed, driving his cultivation from the fourth realm mid-stage to its peak.

Lu Changfeng explained why the Inner Guard should gather intelligence discreetly rather than openly threaten Swordforging City, then planned to infiltrate it. Xue Ne revealed that Xiao Zhu wielded a different demonic weapon, City Incinerator, leaving the identity of Gan Jiang and Mo Xie's master unresolved.

• Lu Changfeng told Qing Dai that the Inner Guard had dispersed to avoid alerting Swordforging City and to gather intelligence across the region.
• Lu Changfeng reasoned that Swordforging City might be divided, and that threatening it openly could unite its members against the court.
• Xue Ne and Wang Jingxian heard Lu Changfeng's strategy, and Xue Ne praised his judgment before agreeing that they should investigate the city discreetly.
• Lu Changfeng said he intended to infiltrate Swordforging City, and Xue Ne warned him about the city's leaders, Xiao Jueyan and Xiao Juelan.
• Lu Changfeng suspected Xiao Zhu might have wielded Gan Jiang and Mo Xie, but Xue Ne said Xiao Zhu's sword was named City Incinerator.

Lu Changfeng used the Heaven-and-Earth Great Furnace at Cold Crow Valley to nourish the Wind-Raising Sword with the essences of the Blood Soul Sub-Swords and Thunderclap Sword. The blade returned to the ranks of divine weapons and gained the power of wind and thunder, drawing Swordforging City's attention as Lu Changfeng prepared to continue his journey with it.

• Xue Ne, Wang Jingxian, and Lu Changfeng suspected that Xiao Zhu could wield the City Incinerator Sword because the Xiao family might share Dong Zhuo's bloodline, and Lu Changfeng left Youzhou City with Qing Dai, Snow Robe, and Mo Li.
• At Cold Crow Valley, Lu Changfeng explained that he would use the noon sun, the Profound Yin Cold Pool, and the Heaven-and-Earth Great Furnace to nourish the Wind-Raising Sword with the seized swords.
• Lu Changfeng refined the essences of the sixteen Blood Soul Sub-Swords and the Thunderclap Sword, and the Wind-Raising Sword absorbed them and returned to the ranks of sixth-tier divine weapons.
• The Wind-Raising Sword unleashed a devastating gale that fused with purple lightning, forming a vast thunderstorm over Cold Crow Valley while Lu Changfeng remained unharmed at its center.
• Xiao Juelan ordered Sword Guards to investigate the disturbance from afar, and Lu Changfeng called the transformed Wind-Raising Sword back into his hand.

Lu Changfeng completed the Wind-Raising Sword’s advancement in Cold Crow Valley, where Xiao Zhu of Swordforging City arrived and offered him a Silver Sword Token while distancing the city from the Changlong Workshop incident. After Xiao Zhu left, Lu Changfeng agreed to visit Han Zhou, his Medicine King Valley martial nephew, to learn more about the city and its people.

• Lu Changfeng finished refining the Wind-Raising Sword into a sixth-tier divine weapon using the essence of seventeen treasured swords.
• Xiao Zhu arrived, praised the sword, and discussed the killing intent and sword lights seen after the events at Changlong Workshop.
• Xiao Zhu gave Lu Changfeng a Silver Sword Token, said Swordforging City would not interfere with his investigation, and withdrew his Sword Guards.
• Han Zhou introduced himself as Lu Changfeng’s registered disciple nephew from Medicine King Valley and invited him to his clinic.
• Lu Changfeng accepted Han Zhou’s invitation, intending to learn more about Swordforging City, Xiao Zhu, and Xu Lu.

Lu Changfeng and his group reached Swordforging City, where Han Zhou explained the Xiao family’s succession tensions and the events surrounding Xu Lu’s betrayal. Lu Changfeng suspected Xiao Juelou might be the mysterious sword master and concluded that he may have expected Xiao Zhu to obtain the ancient sword.

• Lu Changfeng and his group entered Swordforging City with the Silver Sword Token and went to Han Zhou’s clinic.
• Han Zhou described Xu Lu’s rise as a master swordsmith and explained that he had studied alongside Xiao Juelou and Xiao Jueyan.
• Han Zhou recounted how Xiao Zhu’s late birth secured Xiao Juelou’s succession, while Xiao Xuan later became a favored candidate to succeed him.
• Han Zhou said Xiao Zhu changed after obtaining an ancient sword about half a year earlier, Xiao Juelou entered seclusion, and Xu Lu betrayed the city before the massacres in Youzhou began.
• Lu Changfeng reasoned that Xiao Juelou might be the mysterious sword master, then suggested he may have anticipated Xiao Zhu’s acquisition of the sword.

Lu Changfeng deduced that Xiao Juelou might be maneuvering to put Xiao Zhu in power, but remained suspicious of Xiao Zhu. When Pei Zhennan ambushed him at the clinic, Lu Changfeng defeated and captured him, then used Blazing Wind Gu to force him to answer questions.

• Lu Changfeng reasoned that Xiao Juelou might be secretly arranging events to strengthen Xiao Zhu's position, though he could not explain why a Fifth Realm Great Grandmaster would need such schemes.
• A disguised Sword Guard arrived to summon Lu Changfeng to the Sword Lodge, then attacked him with a saber as soon as the clinic door opened.
• Lu Changfeng disarmed and overpowered the attacker, identifying him as Pei Zhennan, the Great Vehicle Sect's Blade Hero, and asking whether Pei Shuang was his son.
• Lu Changfeng asked Pei Zhennan who had revealed Wild Fox Ravine and who was sheltering Great Vehicle Sect remnants in Swordforging City.
• When Pei Zhennan refused to answer, Lu Changfeng activated Blazing Wind Gu and left him screaming in agony until he demanded to be killed.