Chapter Summaries

Lu Changfeng and the others wounded Qin Shi Huang with a chaotic attack, but he countered and endured Lu Changfeng’s sword dragon. The chapter ended when Qin Shi Huang realized Lu Changfeng had used the Shennong Ruler to accelerate the Dragon-Falling Dust poison inside him.

• Lu Changfeng launched a chaotic attack while Yuan Tiangang’s third beam of starlight briefly restrained Qin Shi Huang, leaving the emperor wounded.
• Qin Shi Huang attacked Lu Changfeng, who used the Earth-Bearing Formation and Opening-and-Closing Hands to withstand and redirect the blows.
• Lu Changfeng summoned ten thousand swords into a dragon and sent it crashing into Qin Shi Huang’s Black Water Armor, but the armor held.
• Qin Shi Huang dismissed Lu Changfeng’s attacks as futile, then noticed the Dragon-Falling Dust spreading faster and recognized the medicinal energy on the Shennong Ruler as poison.

Lu Changfeng and his allies used the Dragon-Falling Dust poison and a coordinated arrow attack to mortally wound Qin Shi Huang. As Qin Shi Huang accepted his end beside the dying Li Dragon, the battle in the tomb came to a close.

• Qin Shi Huang revealed that Lu Changfeng’s medicine had accelerated the Dragon-Falling Dust, then gravely wounded Li Lingyue, Zhao Lanjun, Mu Qinghong, Li Longji, and Chen Xuanli in three breaths.
• Lu Changfeng drew the Eight Desolations Sun-Shooting Bow as Yuan Tiangang sent down a fourth shaft of starlight, further weakening Qin Shi Huang.
• Lu Changfeng fired four arrows, and the Black Tortoise Arrow pierced Qin Shi Huang’s chest; Ye Fashan bound him while Lu Changfeng shot a fifth arrow through the wound.
• Qin Shi Huang recalled his past, stroked the dying Li Dragon, and died as the Dragon-Falling Dust and arrow wound overwhelmed him.
• Lu Changfeng and the surviving fighters watched Qin Shi Huang’s final moments, and the battle ended.

Lu Changfeng treated the wounded after the Ancestral Dragon departed, saving Li Lingyue and the others while receiving several rewards. He then destroyed Liu Xuance’s dantian, declaring that allowing him to live was merciful enough.

• Lu Changfeng reset Li Lingyue’s displaced vertebrae and healed her, earning the Snow-Drinking Saber; she kissed him and promised him a reward.
• Lu Changfeng treated Zhao Lanjun, Mu Qinghong, Li Longji, and Chen Xuanli, saving them and receiving several martial arts and medical rewards.
• Lu Changfeng treated Ye Fashan, who recovered and thanked him; Lu Changfeng called himself Ye Fashan’s successor and credited him and Elder Yuan for holding back the Ancestral Dragon.
• Lu Changfeng approached the gravely wounded Liu Xuance and used the Five-Thunder Dissolution Hand to destroy his dantian and erase his true qi and dragon essence.
• Lu Changfeng told Liu Xuance that letting him live was merciful enough.

After Qin Shi Huang’s death, Lu Changfeng and the others secured his body and gathered the treasures from the mausoleum before leaving. Su Yanqiu foresaw a new disturbance in the Eastern Sea, where Dragon-Slaying City’s leaders discovered that most of their expedition had died.

• Lu Changfeng said Qin Shi Huang’s blood had been contaminated by Dragon-Falling Dust and sealed the ninth level to protect his body.
• Li Lingyue called for the group to divide the mausoleum’s treasures, but Lu Changfeng had them gather everything and leave before the Demonic Path arrived.
• Su Yanqiu foresaw the Ancestral Dragon’s defeat, then divined an obstruction originating in the Eastern Sea and sent a sealed message to Lu Changfeng.
• Su Yanqiu identified the Dragon-Ruling Clan as the source of the Eastern Sea omen.
• Liu Xuanji and Liu Song found that the Life Lamps of the Dragon-Slaying Guards, Xu Lou, and thirty-seven disciples had gone out, while Liu Xuance’s and Liu Ciyuan’s lamps still burned faintly.

Liu Xuanji and Liu Song planned to use the Xu Family to rescue their imprisoned clansmen and protect the Dragon-Ruling Clan’s prestige. After sealing the First Emperor’s Mausoleum, Lu Changfeng met Yuan Tiangang, learned his injury came from an ancient Ice Chi, and discovered that Guixu was real and contained the Immortal Mountain the First Emperor had sought.

• Liu Xuanji proposed that the Xu Family act against the Central Plains in exchange for Mysterious Radiance Pearls, and Liu Song agreed to try.
• Lu Changfeng sealed the mausoleum’s ninth level and reactivated its mechanisms, ensuring the First Emperor’s remains would stay undisturbed.
• Lu Changfeng met Yuan Tiangang on Li Mountain and offered to examine his injury, hoping his Shennong qi could withstand the frost poison.
• Yuan Tiangang explained that an ancient Ice Chi from the Eastern Sea had inflicted his injury and that Guixu lay beyond the Bohai Sea.
• Yuan Tiangang revealed that Guixu was real, gathered the spiritual qi of the world, and contained the Immortal Mountain sought by the First Emperor.

Lu Changfeng learned about the Immortal Mountains and used the Shennong Ruler with his Shennong Qi to hold off the dark-mystery true qi tormenting Yuan Tiangang, giving Yuan hope of recovery. At the Princess's Residence, Li Lingyue oversaw the fair division of the mausoleum’s treasures, then dismissed everyone and embraced Lu Changfeng.

• Yuan Tiangang explained that the Immortal Mountains were hidden realms in Guixu and identified An Qisheng as their most recent famous survivor.
• Lu Changfeng examined Yuan Tiangang and combined his Shennong Qi with the Shennong Ruler’s power to force the dark-mystery true qi into a stalemate.
• Yuan Tiangang sensed the cold poison loosening, while Lu Changfeng gained hope that he could complete the Four Absolutes of the Cosmic Sphere.
• At Chenghui Hall, Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng’s group divided the mausoleum treasures, with the Black Dragon Banner awarded to Lu Changfeng and Li Longji’s share set by a written list.
• Lu Changfeng chose three nine-jointed sweet flags, and Li Lingyue offered him more from her own share.
• After Chen Xuanli and the guards left, Li Lingyue dismissed the Plum Blossom Guards and embraced Lu Changfeng, telling him she had him despite her injured back.

Lu Changfeng used three stalks of nine-jointed sweet flag to transform his Shennong Qi into vitality qi and break through to the late Fifth Realm. After leaving the Quiet Chamber, he learned that Elder Yuan was waiting for him in Chenghui Hall.

• Before dawn, Lu Changfeng left Li Lingyue sleeping and went to the Quiet Chamber to prepare for his breakthrough.
• After regulating his breathing, Lu Changfeng swallowed the first stalk of nine-jointed sweet flag and guided its essence into his Spirit Path Acupoint.
• Lu Changfeng sealed the essence from all three stalks in the acupoint, then fused it with his Shennong Qi and circulated it through his body.
• The medicinal power transformed Lu Changfeng's Shennong Qi into vitality qi, healed his lingering injury, and raised him to the late Fifth Realm.
• Lu Changfeng left the Quiet Chamber, and Qing Dai told him that Elder Yuan was waiting in Chenghui Hall.

Lu Changfeng used his Shennong Qi to purge the cold poison that had tormented Yuan Tiangang for more than twenty years, restoring him to health. Yuan Tiangang then offered Lu Changfeng the manual containing the essence of his life’s learning.

• Lu Changfeng began treating Yuan Tiangang, combining his Shennong Qi with the power of the Shennong Ruler and the medicinal strength of the nine-jointed sweet flags.
• After an hour, Yuan Tiangang expelled the cold poison as frozen black blood and regained his health.
• Lu Changfeng received the complete version of the "Four Absolutes of the Cosmic Sphere" as his treatment reward.
• Li Lingyue arrived and congratulated Yuan Tiangang, while reminding him of the guidance he had once given Lu Changfeng.
• Yuan Tiangang gave Lu Changfeng a manual containing the essence of everything he had learned throughout his life.

Yuan Tiangang gave Lu Changfeng the True Explanation of Purple Tenuity Astrology before departing, and Lu learned that Xu Yuanzhi had arrived with an important request tied to Mount Shu and the All-Knowing Tower. Lu went to meet Xu to repay his debt, while Li Lingyue ordered her attendants to watch the Hundred-Knowledge Hall.

• Yuan Tiangang gave Lu Changfeng the True Explanation of Purple Tenuity Astrology, then left after saying they would meet again and offering to guide him to Guixu.
• A Plum Blossom Guard reported that Xu Yuanzhi of the Hundred-Knowledge Hall had requested an audience, and Li Lingyue suspected the matter concerned the Mount Shu Sword Pool.
• Li Lingyue told Lu Changfeng that Xu's master, Yin Guanhai, was the All-Knowing Tower's master and the person who had presented the Record of Strange Tales from Mountains and Seas to Wu Zetian.
• Lu Changfeng decided to meet Xu Yuanzhi and repay the favor he owed the Hundred-Knowledge Hall, despite Li Lingyue offering to handle it for him.
• Li Lingyue ordered Qing Dai and Jinghong to keep watch on the Hundred-Knowledge Hall while Lu Changfeng left with Snow Robe.

Lu Changfeng agreed to investigate why Shen Guannan had gone mad after returning alone from Soul Bewitching Valley, and prepared to travel to Mount Shu. While waiting to depart, he mastered the foundations of the Four Absolutes of the Cosmic Sphere and Purple Tenuity Astrology, then set out with Snow Robe and Lingbo.

• Xu Yuanzhi asked Lu Changfeng to help Shen Guannan, the young sect master of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, who had gone mad after investigating strange disturbances in Soul Bewitching Valley.
• Lu Changfeng suspected a sixth-realm spirit body might be behind the valley's mysterious battles and agreed to examine Shen Guannan at Mount Shu in three days.
• Lu Changfeng received the complete Four Absolutes of the Cosmic Sphere and formed four streams of vital essence, then began studying the True Explanation of Purple Tenuity Astrology.
• After two days of practice, Lu Changfeng had connected with eighteen principal stars and learned to draw on their starlight for insight and simple divination.
• Lu Changfeng sent a letter to Qingge and departed for Mount Shu on Lingbo with Snow Robe.

Lu Changfeng arrived at the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, where his presence made ten thousand swords bow and silenced the sect’s sword formations. He followed Xu Yuanzhi to a secluded courtyard to see the patient, whose murmurs came from behind its closed gate.

• Wang Maozhong told the disciples that Marquis Wu’s Magic Sword had acknowledged Lu Changfeng as its master, and they teased him about Lu’s relationship with the princess.
• A chorus of swords rang from the Sword Pool, and the disciples’ swords trembled as Lu Changfeng descended from the sky.
• Lu Changfeng’s arrival quieted every sword, astonishing Liu Qianfan and the Sword Sect disciples.
• Xu Yuanzhi led Lu Changfeng into the sect, and the sword formations let them pass without reacting.
• Xu Yuanzhi brought Lu Changfeng to a secluded courtyard where a patient murmured behind the closed gate.

Lu Changfeng examined Shen Guannan and found that his divine soul was incomplete, then explained four possible ways to restore it. Shen Lingyue asked Lu Changfeng to personally replenish his son's spirit, and Lu Changfeng reluctantly considered the risk of Shen Guannan taking after him.

• Lu Changfeng examined Shen Guannan and diagnosed severe damage to his divine soul, with part of his mind apparently drained away.
• Shen Lingyue arrived and asked whether the Great Vehicle Sect's Rebirth Sutra had caused the injury, but Lu Changfeng ruled it out because Shen Guannan's body and qi remained healthy.
• Lu Changfeng outlined four possible treatments, including reversing the Great Void Divine Sword Scripture, using the Mother-and-Child Bondheart Gu, and replenishing Shen Guannan's spirit with others' mental power.
• Shen Lingyue worried that replenishing Shen Guannan's spirit could let someone influence him, and Lu Changfeng explained that recovery would take slow, careful work.
• Shen Lingyue asked Lu Changfeng to treat Shen Guannan himself, accepting that his son might be influenced by Lu Changfeng if it meant he recovered.

Lu Changfeng tried to heal Shen Guannan by replenishing his spirit, but a hidden spirit body ambushed him with a blood-sea illusion and the Corpse-Shedding Method. Lu Changfeng broke through the attack, while the spirit body revealed itself deep beneath Screen Mountain and recognized him.

• Shen Lingyue chose Lu Changfeng’s risky method of replenishing Shen Guannan’s spirit rather than waiting years for a slower recovery.
• Lu Changfeng entered Shen Guannan’s shattered sea of consciousness and used the Consciousness-Only Sword Intent to nourish it.
• A dormant malice erupted from Shen Guannan’s sea of consciousness, dragged Lu Changfeng into a blood-sea illusion, and tried to imprint the Corpse-Shedding Method on his soul.
• Lu Changfeng used Divine Sense as a sword to split the blood sea and stop the demonic chanting, identifying the ambush as a contingency left by a spirit body.
• Deep beneath Soul Bewitching Valley, an ancient spirit body looked toward the Shu Mountain Sword Sect and reacted with surprise and anticipation at Lu Changfeng’s arrival.

Lu Changfeng restored Shen Guannan’s Divine Soul, and Shen Guannan awoke with a calmer disposition. After recounting the deadly demonic chant and the human skins in Soul Bewitching Valley, he joined Lu Changfeng and Shen Lingyue’s plans to investigate, while showing Lu Changfeng an unexpectedly childlike attachment.

• Lu Changfeng told Shen Lingyue that Shen Guannan’s Divine Soul had been restored, and Shen Guannan soon woke and recognized his father.
• Shen Guannan thanked Lu Changfeng and appeared markedly calmer than before, prompting Lu Changfeng to worry that the soul restoration might have altered his personality.
• Shen Guannan recalled finding twelve human skins in Soul Bewitching Valley and described a demonic chant that had made his junior brothers approach him as if transformed.
• Shen Lingyue said he and Uncle Yin had found no traces in the valley, and Lu Changfeng offered to investigate it with him the next morning.
• Shen Guannan invited Lu Changfeng to stay in his courtyard and displayed an unusually affectionate attachment to him.

Lu Changfeng and Xu Yuanzhi discussed the sinister corpse-liberation technique and the outsiders seeking ancient swords at Mount Shu. When Ding Bailing attempted to steal Shadowless from the sword pool, Lu Changfeng sensed his escape and sent a Wind Rope after him.

• Lu Changfeng told Shen Guannan to study the Sword Sect's classics rather than absorb Lu Changfeng's ideas, and Xu Yuanzhi offered Lu Changfeng a place to stay.
• Lu Changfeng asked Xu Yuanzhi about corpse liberation, and they concluded that Bewitching Valley's method used Daoist ideas to lure victims and consume their bodies.
• Xu Yuanzhi described how Ding Bailing had repeatedly tried to claim Shadowless, and the sword pool's alarm rang as someone made another attempt.
• Lu Changfeng and Xu Yuanzhi reached the sword pool, where Ding Bailing used Shadowless to vanish from the Sword Sect disciples' sight.
• Lu Changfeng detected Ding Bailing with the Eight Formations Diagram and launched a Wind Rope toward him as he fled.

Lu Changfeng killed Ding Bailing after uncovering his eclectic martial arts, then set out to investigate the ancient figure behind him. In Soul Bewitching Valley, that figure prepared a puppet-like force of martial artists, including Yue Longyuan and Fang Wendao, for Lu Changfeng’s arrival.

• Ding Bailing used the School of Names Assassination Technique and burned his essence blood to attack Lu Changfeng, who destroyed him with the Eight Formations.
• Lu Changfeng retrieved the Chengying Sword, returned it to the Sword Pool, and concluded with Xu Yuanzhi that Ding Bailing had followed the Eclectic School’s method of combining martial arts from many traditions.
• Lu Changfeng asked Liu Qianfan to guide him to the Scripture Repository so he could research historical records and Bashu gazetteers for clues about Ding Bailing’s ancient spirit body.
• In Soul Bewitching Valley, an unnamed ancient figure discussed Lu Changfeng’s abilities and said he would come the next day, when the gathered captives would be tasked with dealing with him.
• The cavern held Yue Longyuan, Shangguan He, Fang Wendao, and more than a hundred martial artists from various factions, all standing expressionless and breathing in unison under the ancient figure’s control.

Lu Changfeng and Shen Lingyue traveled to Soul Bewitching Valley to investigate its strange phenomena. Snow Robe sensed that the valley’s Spiritual Qi was unnaturally uniform, and Lu Changfeng suspected something powerful was concealing itself beneath the ground.

• Lu Changfeng set out with Shen Lingyue, who brought the Tai'e Sword and a spirit vulture as their mount.
• At Soul Bewitching Valley, Snow Robe found no distinct treasure glow and described the entire valley as unusually vast.
• Lu Changfeng realized the valley’s Spiritual Qi was too evenly distributed to be natural and suspected someone had deliberately suppressed its fluctuations.
• Lu Changfeng and Shen Lingyue entered the valley and discussed how its hidden threat had eluded earlier searches.
• Lu Changfeng suggested the concealed presence might be drawing everything inward or hiding deep underground, and Shen Lingyue asked if it was beneath their feet.

Lu Changfeng and Shen Lingyue discovered that the ancient ginkgo tree concealed a passage into the lair of the being draining victims’ essence blood and origin qi. The being revealed that its roots spread throughout Soul Bewitching Valley, then attacked with demonic chanting as Lu Changfeng identified it as Shi Jiao.

• Lu Changfeng spotted a hidden opening high in the ginkgo tree, and he and Shen Lingyue found a hollow passage descending through its trunk.
• Lu Changfeng shattered the tree, exposing a cavern entrance and roots stained with fresh blood, and realized the tree had been feeding on the missing victims.
• A voice from the cavern revealed that its owner had become the tree and spread its roots across Soul Bewitching Valley, making the whole valley part of its body.
• The voice unleashed the Corpse-Shedding Scripture’s demonic chanting, disrupting Shen Lingyue’s senses while Lu Changfeng remained unmoved.
• Lu Changfeng challenged the voice’s technique and identified its owner as Shi Jiao.

Lu Changfeng identified the ancient ginkgo’s soul as Shi Jiao, who revealed his plan to possess Lu Changfeng’s body. After Lu Changfeng defied him, Shi Jiao unleashed an army of possessed martial artists, and Shen Lingyue fought to defend them both while trapped in hallucinations.

• Lu Changfeng deduced that the ginkgo’s inhabitant was Shi Jiao, the Eclectic School patriarch, and Shi Jiao confirmed his identity and past.
• Shi Jiao explained that he had transferred his soul into the Ancient Ginkgo Tree and had spent centuries consuming intruders while preparing to possess a gifted human.
• Shi Jiao declared that he wanted Lu Changfeng’s body, but Lu Changfeng revealed he had foreseen danger in the Obstruction Hexagram and insisted he had come anyway.
• Shi Jiao grew enraged and sent over a hundred possessed Jianghu experts to attack Lu Changfeng and Shen Lingyue.
• Shen Lingyue cut down the attackers’ front rank, and Shi Jiao turned their blood and severed limbs into a storm of arrows.
• Lu Changfeng dodged the attacks while Shen Lingyue, disoriented by Shi Jiao’s illusions, defended himself with the Great River Sword Technique.

Lu Changfeng battled Shi Jiao and the Great Vehicle Sect, enduring their poison, spells, and coordinated attacks before unleashing his strongest fire technique. He then revealed Great Qin’s Black Dragon Banner and summoned twelve Terracotta Warriors, leaving Shi Jiao shocked by the ancient artifact in Lu Changfeng’s possession.

• Shi Jiao used blood mist carrying Yin-Yang curse poison to slow Shen Lingyue and sent controlled experts to attack Lu Changfeng.
• Shi Jiao bound Lu Changfeng with Heavy Earth Chains while Yue Longyuan, Shangguan He, Fang Wendao, and the others attacked from all sides.
• Lu Changfeng combined Divine Command of the Six Forces with Mingyi Heavenly Fire to unleash Golden Crow Splits the Firmament, burning several attackers and forcing the rest back.
• Shi Jiao raised a Heavy Earth Wall to shield the surviving fighters, who regrouped and surrounded Lu Changfeng again.
• Lu Changfeng drew the Black Dragon Banner and summoned twelve Terracotta Warriors from the earth.
• Shi Jiao recognized the banner as Great Qin’s nation-guarding artifact, and Lu Changfeng mocked him as an obsolete relic.