Chapter Summaries

Li Longji’s hidden senior warned him to eliminate Lu Changfeng if he could not win him over, even as Lu led the group through the cavern. They reached the Eight Formations Diagram, where Lu began using Five Elements Positioning to find a safe route or the formation’s core.

• Li Longji’s senior praised Lu Changfeng’s abilities but warned that his ties to Princess Taiping made him a future threat who should be eliminated if he could not be recruited.
• Lu Changfeng suppressed Suan Yu’s demonic cries with the Lovesick Zither, and Li Longji led the party onward through the cavern.
• The group entered a vast stone formation, which Lu Changfeng identified as the Eight Formations Diagram.
• Li Longji explained that he and Mao Zhong had failed to cross the formation and asked Lu Changfeng to lead the way.
• Lu Changfeng summoned the Mysterious Crane Dharma Form and used Five Elements Positioning to search for the formation’s safe path or core.

Lu Changfeng crossed and temporarily disabled the Eight Formations Stone Forest, revealing his mastery of formations. The group reached a Formation Disk, but Li Longji questioned why a disciple of Marquis Wu had hidden something beneath Hu Pass.

• Lu Changfeng used his Divine Sense and comprehension to find the formation’s fleeting path to life and crossed the stone forest safely.
• Lu Changfeng located the formation’s pivot and used true qi to put the formation temporarily to sleep.
• Li Longji and the others crossed the dormant formation, while Xue Chongjian praised Lu Changfeng’s skill.
• Lu Changfeng examined the Formation Disk as the Wind-Raising Sword hummed in its sheath.
• Li Longji recognized Marquis Wu’s lineage in the Formation Disk’s design and wondered why it guarded something at Hu Pass.

Lu Changfeng and his companions discovered signs that the abbess of Purple Tenuity Abbey may have reached the formation before them, then used the Wind-Raising Sword to open a Mountain-Curtain Barrier guarding Marquis Wu’s hidden treasury. They entered the barrier, leaving the three Baleful Skeletons to guard its entrance.

• Lu Changfeng found a faint footprint and an unfamiliar fragrance, leading the group to suspect that Yuchenzi, the abbess of Purple Tenuity Abbey, had visited the stone platform.
• Li Longji cautioned the group to proceed carefully, but they decided to continue toward Marquis Wu’s treasures.
• Lu Changfeng fitted the Wind-Raising Sword into the bronze Formation Disk, activating it and revealing a glowing entrance through the rock wall.
• Lu Changfeng identified the entrance as a Mountain-Curtain Barrier that might be powered by a rare spirit artifact or divine artifact.
• Lu Changfeng ordered the three Baleful Skeletons to guard outside, then led Li Longji, Xue Chongjian, and the others through the barrier.

Lu Changfeng and the others discovered that the Wind-Raising talisman and Horizon Spear anchored an ancient formation suppressing battlefield baleful energy. As the formation began to crack, the sealed murderous force threatened to escape.

• Lu Changfeng and the others entered an ancient chamber and found the Wind-Raising Formation talisman and Horizon Spear hovering above a white jade altar.
• Xue Chongjian recognized Horizon as Zhao Zilong's divine weapon, while Lu Changfeng connected the talisman to the Eight Formations Diagram.
• The group read Zhuge Jing's inscription explaining that the treasures anchored a seal built to contain ancient battlefield baleful energy and warning that removing them would unleash disaster.
• Li Longji realized the chamber was a prison rather than a treasure cache, and Lu Changfeng worried that rival factions would try to seize the treasures.
• The chamber shook, fissures spread across the altar, and a terrifying aura of hatred and murderous intent battered the failing seal.

Yuchenzi ambushed Li Longji and disrupted the group’s efforts to hold the seal, causing the altar to collapse and release the Sixth-Tier War-Baleful Demon Ge. As Yuchenzi approached the weapon, Lu Changfeng prepared to rely on the remnant soul in the Water Cang Jade and wondered whether it would prove friend or foe.

• Lu Changfeng and the others poured their True Qi into the altar to stabilize the failing seal.
• Yuchenzi attacked from the barrier entrance with three flying swords, gravely wounding Li Longji and sending Wang Maozhong flying.
• Li Longji’s blood struck the altar runes, triggering a violent surge that shattered the altar and released the War-Baleful Demon Ge.
• Yuchenzi entered the barrier and revealed herself as the attacker, while Lu Changfeng caught the Wind-Raising Hexagram Talisman and Horizon Spear.
• Lu Changfeng realized Yuchenzi had reached the Fifth Realm and called on the remnant soul within the Water Cang Jade to reveal itself.

Lu Changfeng refused Yuchenzi’s demand to surrender the Demonic Halberd and two divine weapons, challenging her to explain her motives while secretly urging Li Longji’s remnant soul to possess him. The soul surged through the Water Cang Jade toward Li Longji’s ancestral aperture as Lu Changfeng took a defiant spear stance, leaving the confrontation poised for a fight.

• Xue Chongjian accused Yuchenzi of disloyalty and unrighteousness, but she dismissed his appeals and argued that strength decided who lived or died.
• Yuchenzi demanded that Lu Changfeng hand over the Demonic Halberd, the Wind-Raising Formation, and the Horizon Spear in exchange for everyone’s lives.
• Lu Changfeng suspected Yuchenzi would betray them and secretly urged Li Longji’s remnant soul to possess him, buying time against the great grandmaster.
• Lu Changfeng pretended to consider surrendering, then demanded to know why Yuchenzi was helping the Demonic Weapon emerge and seeking Marquis Wu’s legacy and Zhao Yun’s weapon.
• Lu Changfeng raised the Horizon Spear in a disciplined stance and declared that he would rather be jade shattered than submit, while the Water Cang Jade’s light surged into Li Longji.

Yuchenzi demanded the Wind-Raising Formation and Horizon Spear, claiming she would use the martial baleful intent to attain transcendence. As Lu Changfeng pretended to surrender, the remnant soul in the Water Cang Jade possessed Li Longji and confronted Yuchenzi for threatening a son of the Li Clan.

• Yuchenzi explained that she sought to transform the baleful intent into spiritual energy and ordered Lu Changfeng to hand over the Wind-Raising Formation and Horizon Spear.
• Lu Changfeng considered how absorbing killing intent could drive practitioners into madness and doubted Yuchenzi could control it.
• Lu Changfeng pretended to accept Yuchenzi's demand and slowly moved the treasures as though offering them to her.
• The Water Cang Jade released its light into the badly injured Li Longji, and a powerful will awakened within him.
• The possessed Li Longji opened his eyes, displayed the force of a sixth-realm martial will, and warned Yuchenzi not to harm a son of the Li Clan.

A mysterious Li clan expert took control of Li Longji’s body and overwhelmed Yuchenzi, Shan Zheng, and Lu Xuantong. He left Yuchenzi struck in the chest by his mountain-like palm, with her fate unresolved.

• The mysterious expert unleashed overwhelming martial true force through Li Longji and made Yuchenzi question his identity.
• He condemned Yuchenzi’s cultivation and challenged her to fight.
• Yuchenzi summoned Taiyin and attacked with five flying swords while controlled Shan Zheng and Lu Xuantong moved to protect her.
• The expert shattered Yuchenzi’s five swords and broke Shan Zheng’s spear and Lu Xuantong’s sword, sending both men flying.
• His mountain-like palm shattered Yuchenzi’s Dharma Form and defenses before striking her chest.

Li Longji’s remnant soul defeated Yuchenzi, arranged the sealing of the War-Baleful Demon Ge, and passed the Sun-Moon Cosmos Sword to Lu Changfeng before collapsing. Lu Changfeng began treating Li Longji while Qing Dai discovered talismans and a booklet among Yuchenzi’s belongings.

• Li Longji struck Yuchenzi with Mountain Tremor, leaving her mortally wounded, and ordered Lu Changfeng to retrieve her Demon-Sealing Object and arrange for the War-Baleful Demon Ge to be sealed.
• Li Longji assigned the Wind-Raising Formation to Lu Changfeng and the Horizon Spear to himself, then transmitted the Sun-Moon Cosmos Sword to Lu Changfeng.
• Li Longji’s remnant soul withdrew into the Water Cang Jade, and he collapsed from exhaustion.
• Lu Changfeng examined Li Longji, confirmed his life was not in danger, and used the Huayang Needle to treat him.
• Qing Dai searched Yuchenzi’s robe and found spiritual talismans and a booklet titled Essential Arts of Taiping.

Lu Changfeng stabilized Li Longji and Wang Maozhong, while Qing Dai sealed the War-Baleful Demon Ge and recovered the Essential Arts of Taiping. As the group prepared to return to Lu Prefecture with Shan Zheng and Lu Xuantong under guard, Xue Chongjian dissolved Yuchenzi’s corpse to eliminate any lingering threat.

• Lu Changfeng used the Nine Dragon Stone and Shennong Qi to stabilize Li Longji, then treated Wang Maozhong and received the Purple Star Flexible Sword as a reward.
• Xue Chongjian discovered strange curse seals branded into Shan Zheng and Lu Xuantong, and Lu Changfeng ordered them restrained and secretly escorted to Lu Prefecture.
• Qing Dai sealed the War-Baleful Demon Ge with Demon-Sealing Talismans and gave Lu Changfeng the Essential Arts of Taiping found on Yuchenzi.
• Lu Changfeng ordered the group to leave and instructed Xue Chongjian to keep the two men under strict guard until Li Longji woke or the curse seals could be resolved.
• Xue Chongjian poured Corpse-Dissolving Water over Yuchenzi, completely destroying her body, then sealed Shan Zheng and Lu Xuantong’s Governing Vessel acupoints with golden needles.

After escaping the Hu Pass Secret Realm, Lu Changfeng and his companions returned to Lu Prefecture, where their allies fortified the Deputy Prefect’s Residence and dealt with the injured and captured. Lu Changfeng received the Tathagata Divine Palm as a reward and began studying the Essential Arts of Taiping, while the threat posed by Yuchenzi and the emerging Demonic Weapon remained unresolved.

• Lu Changfeng found the Three Baleful Skeletons frozen by Yuchenzi’s ice talismans and led the group out of the Secret Realm with them.
• The party reached the Deputy Prefect’s Residence, and Han Cheng’s troops surrounded Purple Tenuity Abbey while the Plum Blossom Guards and Prince Xiang’s supporters reinforced the residence.
• Lu Changfeng treated Li Longji and the others, and the Three Baleful Skeletons recovered after their talismans melted and he expelled the cold poison.
• Lu Changfeng received the Tathagata Divine Palm as his reward for treating Li Longji and assimilated the inheritance.
• Lu Changfeng picked up the Essential Arts of Taiping to study Yuchenzi’s talisman art.

Lu Changfeng studied the principles of talismanic arts and wondered whether the ancient craft could work again. A thousand miles away, the Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal awakened, chose Zhang Qingyuan, and restored Mount Dragon-Tiger’s lost talismanic arts.

• Lu Changfeng read the Essential Arts of Taiping and realized talismans commanded the qi of heaven and earth rather than ghosts and spirits.
• Snow Robe pointed out the Five-Thunder Talisman, prompting Lu Changfeng to wonder why Mount Dragon-Tiger’s lineage no longer used talisman arts and whether their lost conditions had been fulfilled.
• The Yangping Zhidu Gong Seal awakened in Mount Dragon-Tiger’s Demon-Subduing Forbidden Ground and gathered primordial qi.
• The seal chose Zhang Qingyuan and passed down the lost Five-Thunder Orthodox Method, Cavern Mystery Jade Pivot Talismans, and Dugong Seal Art.
• Zhang Qingyuan drew a talisman in the air and summoned lightning that struck the Guardian Thunderstruck Stone Array.
• Zhang Gaolong declared that the ancestral arts had returned and Mount Dragon-Tiger would rise.

Sima Cheng awakened the Sima Clan’s Tomb Tiger Tally and Wang Jingxian claimed the Langya Wang Clan’s Army-Breaker Sword as the spiritual tides stirred. In Lu Prefecture, Lu Changfeng discovered that his Jade Pendant was tied to Ghost Valley and saw a vision of the Treatise on All Under Heaven, leaving him intent on going south toward Mount Yunmeng.

• Sima Cheng used the Tomb Tiger Tally to raise nine Terracotta Soldiers from earth and declared that the Tomb Tiger’s power would emerge again.
• Wang Jingxian took up the Army-Breaker Sword, endured its visions of slaughter, and vowed to quell the age’s chaos.
• Lu Changfeng felt a strange summons urging him south, and his Jade Pendant shed its aged surface to reveal the words “Ghost Valley.”
• Lu Changfeng touched the pendant and saw a vision of the Treatise on All Under Heaven in an ancient stone chamber.
• Lu Changfeng recognized the connection to Mount Yunmeng and looked south while gripping the Ghost Valley Jade Pendant.

Li Longji recovered from Yuchenzi’s attack and visited Lu Changfeng to thank him, but Lu declined the Horizon Spear and explained why accepting it would bring trouble. As they played go, Lu inferred that the powerful ancestor in Li Longji’s Jade Pendant was likely Li Xuanba.

• Li Longji learned from Gao Lishi how the remnant soul in the Water Cang Jade had killed Yuchenzi and granted Lu Changfeng the Sun-Moon Cosmos Sword.
• Li Longji brought Lu Changfeng the Horizon Spear as a reward, but Lu declined it, citing the risks of accepting such a weighty legacy and his lack of spear expertise.
• Lu Changfeng and Li Longji played go while discussing the ancestor who had manifested from the Jade Pendant.
• Lu Changfeng identified the ancestor as likely Li Xuanba, Li Shimin’s younger brother who had died in his youth.

Lu Changfeng left Lu Prefecture with Qing Dai and Snow Robe to seek the Ghost Valley inheritance at Mount Yunmeng, while Li Longji remained behind and prepared to return to Chang'an. The chapter ended with both men sensing that an awakened ancient treasure or inheritance was calling to them.

• Lu Changfeng told Li Longji he could not treat Shan Zheng or Lu Xuantong's Soul-Severing Talisman afflictions without the Essential Arts of Taiping.
• Lu Changfeng resolved to reach Mount Yunmeng and obtain the Treatise on All Under Heaven, whose Divine Command of the Six Forces could let its practitioner command the qi and laws of heaven and earth.
• Lu Changfeng told Li Longji he had to settle personal matters and promised to return to Chang'an within a few weeks or two or three seasons.
• Qing Dai appeared ready to travel with Snow Robe, and Lu Changfeng said he could not wait to begin the journey south.
• Lu Changfeng, Qing Dai, and Snow Robe left the Deputy Prefect's Residence and headed toward Mount Yunmeng as Li Longji watched them go.
• Li Longji sensed a destiny-bearing spirit object calling him toward Chang'an and looked forward to meeting Lu Changfeng again.

Li Longji entrusted the sealed War-Baleful Demon Ge to Master Sengjia, then visited Princess Taiping, who learned that both he and Lu Changfeng were responding to the rising spiritual energy. As Li Longji returned home, Li Lingyue prepared to pursue a treasure at Li Mountain; meanwhile, Lu Changfeng traveled south by boat, where his parrot sensed someone approaching underwater.

• Li Longji delivered the sealed War-Baleful Demon Ge to Master Sengjia, who promised to suppress it beneath Jianfu Temple.
• Li Longji told Princess Taiping that he sensed something responding to him near Zhongnan Mountain, and she urged him to return to his father.
• Li Lingyue suspected Li Longji was hiding what he knew and ordered the Plum Blossom Guards to support Lu Changfeng on his southern search for a spiritual treasure.
• Li Lingyue ordered Aunt Zhao, Aunt Mu, and the Twenty-Four Floral Periods to prepare to accompany her to Li Mountain and bring something out.
• Lu Changfeng traveled downstream on the Han River while cultivating, and his parrot muttered that someone was coming from underwater.

Lu Changfeng killed the Demon Dragon Gang’s river bandits with his flying sword and challenged their hidden allies. After the Dragon-Seeking Needle revealed his treasures, Li Tao ordered the gang to surround and attack the passenger boat.

• Lu Changfeng sensed danger and told Qing Dai to retreat as Demon Dragon Gang bandits boarded the boat.
• Lu Changfeng used Mount Shu’s Sword Control with Qi to kill the bandits, then swept their bodies into the river.
• Lu Changfeng called on the hidden attackers to reveal themselves and make their move.
• Yin Wushou used the Dragon-Seeking Needle to point out Lu Changfeng’s sword and other treasures, while the gang elders debated the risks of attacking him.
• Li Tao decided to seize Lu Changfeng’s treasures and ordered the Blackwater Sky-Covering Formation activated before charging the boat with the gang’s fighters.

Lu Changfeng effortlessly defeated the Demon Dragon Gang’s ambush on the river, killing its leaders and wiping out its fighters. Hong Ba survived on his knees as Lu Changfeng and his companions stood over the bloodied, quiet water.

• Li Tao and the Demon Dragon Gang elders launched a coordinated attack, but Lu Changfeng protected the passenger boat with his Origin-Returning Qi Barrier.
• Lu Changfeng shattered Hong Ba’s iron oar, drained Li Tao’s True Qi, and killed him with a strike between the brows.
• Lu Changfeng used Wind Rope to kill Yin Wushou and fatally maim Han Qi as they tried to escape.
• Hong Ba begged for mercy, while Snow Robe declared that Lu Changfeng already had a servant; Lu Changfeng ordered Qing Dai to clear out the remaining attackers.
• Qing Dai cut down the fleeing gang members as Lu Changfeng killed those hiding underwater, leaving Hong Ba and the shaken boatmen on the deck.

After reaching Jingling Town, Lu Changfeng met the fortune-teller Xu Yuanzhi, who warned him about dangers gathering on Mount Yunmeng. Xu revealed that Lu Changfeng’s name was on a mysterious list and that he had come to meet him.

• Lu Changfeng crippled Hong Ba and let him go, explaining that the Canal Gang would deal with him and that he needed to hurry to Yunmeng.
• Lu Changfeng, Qing Dai, and Snow Robe reached Jingling Town, where the Dragon-Seeking Needle pointed toward a powerful treasure in the northeast.
• Lu Changfeng found Xu Yuanzhi at a fortune-telling stall, and Xu identified his destination and hinted at his ties to the Nation-Guarding Highness.
• Xu Yuanzhi warned Lu Changfeng about the Purple Palace Jade Zhi, the awakening Profound Tiger, and Zhou Yichen, a dangerous Grandmaster searching Mount Yunmeng.
• Xu Yuanzhi showed Lu Changfeng a mysterious list and told him that his name was on it, revealing that he had come to meet him.

Xu Yuanzhi explained that the All-Knowing Tower’s [Monthly Appraisal] tracked rising talents and changes caused by awakening ancient relics, then described several people whose powers or weapons had recently surfaced. He warned Lu Changfeng that an unnamed person carried the Essential Arts of Taiping, leaving Lu wary of the danger and of his existing conflict with Yuchenzi.

• Xu Yuanzhi revealed that his teacher had sent him into the world with the [Monthly Appraisal] to observe fortune and record emerging figures.
• Lu Changfeng set aside his plans to climb Mount Yunmeng and invited Xu Yuanzhi to discuss the martial world at Canglang Pavilion.
• Xu Yuanzhi explained that awakened ancient relics were disrupting the old order and described a Fire Witch, a water-commanding fisherman's daughter, and a blind swordsman wielding Water-Severing.
• Xu Yuanzhi recounted the dangers posed by a demonic practitioner with a fragment of the Seven Baleful Corpse King Coffin and a Northern Frontier practitioner forging swords from living souls.
• Xu Yuanzhi warned Lu Changfeng that an unidentified person carried the Essential Arts of Taiping and might be concealing formidable ambitions.
• Lu Changfeng accepted the warning but reflected that Yuchenzi might already resent him for obstructing the attempt to obtain the Demonic Weapon.