Chapter Summaries

Zhen Huo and Bai Su Gu’s foundation establishment was threatened when more than twenty Bright Sword Swordsmen attacked Xiao Hua’s group. Xiao Hua faced the attackers while Bai Su Gu continued his breakthrough, and Zhang Xin watched anxiously from a nearby peak.

• More than twenty Bright Sword Swordsmen spotted the foundation-establishment phenomenon and flew toward Zhen Huo and Bai Su Gu.
• Zhang Xin warned Xiao Hua about the approaching swordsmen, but Xiao Hua told him to remain with the Joyful Sect disciples.
• Cui Hongshen, Zhen Minghui, Su Qing, and Qiu Xu reported that their cultivation had advanced greatly while they were unconscious.
• The swordsmen charged Xiao Hua’s group, sending flying swords toward them and Bai Su Gu as his breakthrough began to falter.
• Xiao Hua summoned the Town Cloud Seal, seized control of the attackers’ flying swords, and unleashed a flash of golden light followed by cries of pain.

Xiao Hua used the Town Cloud Seal and Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors to kill nearly twenty sword cultivators, stunning Zhang Xin and the Joyful Sect disciples. After several swordsmen fled, Bai Su Gu completed Foundation Establishment, and Xiao Hua promised to escort him back to Xuntian City.

• Xiao Hua drew the sword cultivators’ attacks with the Town Cloud Seal, then killed four with the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors.
• Xiao Hua used the Town Cloud Seal to crush more than a dozen sword cultivators and collected their flying swords and storage pouches.
• Cui Hongshen and the others fought four remaining swordsmen, but one fled and the other three escaped after seeing Xiao Hua’s strength.
• Zhang Xin congratulated Xiao Hua, who attributed his apparent cultivation progress to surviving the Quanjin Mountain formation.
• Bai Su Gu completed Foundation Establishment, and Xiao Hua told him he would leave the squad and return to the Thunder Control Sect after Xiao escorted him to Xuntian City.

Xiao Hua shared the spoils from the slain sword cultivators with the Thunder Control Sect and Joyful Sect disciples, then led them toward Xuntian City. When he detected another ambush, he attacked the hidden swordsmen with the Town Cloud Seal.

• Xiao Hua divided less than half the captured items and ten flying swords among the disciples, and Zhen Minghui distributed the shares.
• Zhang Xin agreed to continue toward Xuntian City, and the group later encountered guards and cultivators sent by the Council Hall.
• As dawn approached, Xiao Hua sensed swordsmen lying in ambush near a dangerous region and told the others to follow him at a distance.
• Xiao Hua used the Town Cloud Seal to smash the concealed formation, revealing more than a dozen swordsmen and damaging their flying swords and Primordial Spirits.
• Xiao Hua ordered a second strike with the Town Cloud Seal as the swordsmen scattered and tried to resist it with their flying swords.

Xiao Hua battled Bright Sword Swordsmen and captured their unseen Formless Sword with his Dharma Eye, then spared its wielder, Gu Yu, and returned the weapon to her. Li Zongbao arrived and drove off the sword cultivators, then questioned Xiao Hua about his magic treasures.

• Xiao Hua used the Town Cloud Seal to break flying swords, trap swordsmen, and resist their attacks while an invisible Formless Sword repeatedly targeted him.
• Xiao Hua spotted the Formless Sword with his Dharma Eye and caught it just as Li Zongbao arrived and recognized him.
• Xiao Hua revealed Gu Yu, the Formless Sword's wielder, severed her arm, gave her a healing pill, and returned her sword.
• Li Zongbao struck the Bright Sword Swordsmen with the Immortal-Piercing Whip, while Xiao Hua pinned down their flying swords and the surviving cultivators fled.
• Li Zongbao killed the swordsmen trapped beneath the Town Cloud Seal and criticized Xiao Hua for sparing Gu Yu before asking about his magic treasures.

Xiao Hua reunited with Li Zongbao, who praised his fighting ability and invited him to help hunt Qin Jian. Li Zongbao used a Council Hall special permit to requisition Xiao Hua, and Xiao Hua agreed after learning his companions would soon return to their sects.

• Li Zongbao reunited with Xiao Hua and learned that he had survived the battle at Quanjin Mountain.
• Xiao Hua accepted the storage bags and flying swords taken from the Bright Sword Swordsmen and shared some of the spoils with the others.
• Li Zongbao invited Xiao Hua to help him kill Qin Jian, the Illusion Sword Swordsman, and Xiao Hua agreed.
• Li Zongbao displayed his Council Hall special permit and ordered Xiao Hua to accompany him.
• Xiao Hua hesitated over leaving Cui Hongshen and the others, but Li Zongbao explained that the survivors would soon return to their sects, so Xiao Hua agreed to go.

Xiao Hua agreed to accompany Li Zongbao toward the Swift Wind Snowfield after learning that Yun Zichong and Fairy Hongxia might arrive at the battlefield, while escorting the Thunder Control Sect and Joyful Sect disciples back to Xuntian City first. During the journey, he reviewed his cultivation and discovered that a Sword Pouch could deploy a sword array, then found a jade slip containing the Seven Star Sword Array formation method.

• Li Zongbao persuaded Xiao Hua to remain on the battlefield by mentioning the coming arrival of Yun Zichong and Fairy Hongxia, then set out with him toward a suspected ambush in the Swift Wind Snowfield.
• Xiao Hua asked to escort Cui Hongshen and the other disciples to Xuntian City, and Li Zongbao agreed before sending them through a secret Teleportation Array.
• Xiao Hua took out the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat and piloted it while Li Zongbao meditated, then examined his cultivation and considered preparations for core formation.
• Xiao Hua reviewed his Primordial Spirit cultivation and learned that a Sword Pouch could deploy a sword array using stored flying swords.
• Xiao Hua searched the sword jade slips from Quanjin Mountain and found an intact slip containing the Seven Star Sword Array formation method.

Xiao Hua refined the Sword Pouch and discussed Li Zongbao’s plan to ambush Qin Jian. They arrived at a massacre where beast cultivators were eating the slain Dao Sect cultivators, and an unseen speaker threatened to send them to Heaven.

• Xiao Hua placed the Sword Pouch in Buddhist fire and imprinted a thread of his Primordial Spirit into the nearly restored second Sword Pellet.
• Li Zongbao explained how Xiao Hua’s Town Cloud Seal and his Immortal-Piercing Whip could help them ambush Qin Jian.
• Li Zongbao sensed danger and directed Xiao Hua toward a nearby slope, where they found a bloody massacre.
• More than a dozen beast cultivators feasted on the corpses and talked about the female cultivators they had killed.
• Two furious divine senses swept over the beast cultivators, and a cold voice threatened to send them to Heaven.

Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao confronted a group of beast cultivators who had slaughtered Daoist cultivators, using the Town Cloud Seal and Immortal-Piercing Whip to overcome their resistance. After killing the wolf-headed leader and three companions, they turned their attention to the remaining beast cultivators.

• The wolf-headed, leopard-headed, and pig-headed beast cultivators spotted Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao approaching and prepared to fight.
• Xiao Hua used the Town Cloud Seal to restrain the wolf-headed leader and three other beast cultivators, but they transformed and broke through its clouds with their demonic artifacts.
• Xiao Hua repeatedly sent down more clouds to hold the four beast cultivators in place as they tried to charge him.
• Li Zongbao struck the immobilized wolf-headed leader and three companions with the Immortal-Piercing Whip, killing them.
• Xiao Hua sent the Town Cloud Seal toward the remaining beast cultivators, targeting the pig-headed beast cultivator and several others.

Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao defeated a group of beast cultivators, though Li Zongbao injured himself by overexerting his spiritual power. After Xiao Hua killed the escaping pig-headed beast cultivator, they discovered the dead cultivators were Thunder Control Sect disciples who had not taken part in the great battle.

• Li Zongbao used the Immortal-Piercing Whip to defeat five beast cultivators, then spat blood after damaging his meridians.
• Xiao Hua confined six beast cultivators with the Town Cloud Seal and crushed the fallen enemies Li Zongbao had injured.
• A pig-headed beast cultivator escaped Xiao Hua's confinement with five-colored Silk Brocade, but Xiao Hua pursued and killed him.
• Li Zongbao warned Xiao Hua against showing mercy to enemies and gave him a storage pouch containing jade slips.
• Xiao Hua found identity plaques showing the dead cultivators were Thunder Control Sect disciples from Dui Lei Palace who had not joined the great battle.

After defeating the beast cultivators, Xiao Hua sorted the dead Thunder Control Sect disciples’ belongings and discovered a distress message from Dui Miaoqing, whose fate remained unknown. He and Li Zongbao continued traveling together, while Xiao Hua worried about preparing for core formation and keeping his strength and secrets concealed.

• Xiao Hua buried the beast cultivators, collected their storage bags and artifacts, and gathered the Thunder Control Sect disciples’ remains and belongings.
• Xiao Hua read a jade slip revealing that Dui Miaoqing had sent a distress message to Dui Jie, but its location and cause were missing; he decided to seek Li Zongbao’s advice after he recovered.
• Xiao Hua worried that his rapid cultivation had brought him close to core formation without the Qianli Pill, Lingli Pill, or their formulas.
• After meditating for half a day, Li Zongbao told Xiao Hua he would not interfere if Xiao Hua needed to handle Thunder Control Sect matters, and they agreed to look for other disciples who could relay the news.
• Li Zongbao praised Xiao Hua’s strength and explained that his Immortal-Piercing Whip was a renowned artifact he could barely control; Xiao Hua reflected on the danger of Nascent Soul cultivators and the value of concealing his abilities.

Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao traveled into Huan Kingdom’s frozen territory and discussed the war between Dao cultivators and sword cultivators. Li Zongbao revealed that Qin Jian had disclosed Swift Wind Snowfield as their destination, and they were expected to arrive in two days.

• The Flowing Cloud Flying Boat entered Huan Kingdom, where the extreme cold covered the landscape and the boat in ice.
• Li Zongbao discussed Huan Kingdom’s harsh climate, the strength of its sword cultivators, and how war turned cultivators against one another.
• Xiao Hua remembered Ling Yunwu and Yu Wan and resolved to search for their transformed flying swords so they could remain together.
• Li Zongbao said finding Zhang Yutong and Zhang Yuhe, or proving where they had died, could remove the sword cultivators’ pretext for war.
• Li Zongbao pointed out Swift Wind Snowfield and said Qin Jian himself had revealed the information; the flying boat would reach it within two days.

Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao searched the Swift Wind Snowfield for Qin Jian, while Xiao Hua sensed a possible connection between glacial geothermal heat and the Hand of Cause and Effect. Elsewhere, Quan Jie and Qian Feng waited in concealment with other cultivators for Qin Jian to arrive, but grew uncertain that he had received their challenge.

• Li Zongbao told Xiao Hua that Qin Jian had lured and ambushed Daoist cultivators for years, and they continued toward the Swift Wind Snowfield.
• Li Zongbao explained that glacial geothermal heat formed hot springs, prompting Xiao Hua to suspect the phenomenon was connected to the Hand of Cause and Effect.
• Xiao Hua reviewed a jade talisman refinement manual during their flight, then he and Li Zongbao searched the snowfield for the ambushers and Qin Jian.
• Quan Jie emerged from concealment near an ice lake and complained to Qian Feng that they had waited ten days without seeing a sword cultivator.
• Quan Jie and Qian Feng discussed their plan to kill Qin Jian for the Council Hall bounty and worried that he might never come.
• Qian Feng went to consult Pan Hao while Quan Jie reapplied his Invisibility Talisman and hid himself.

Qian Feng and Quan Jie used Quan Jie's Ruoling Bird to scout the Swift Wind Snowfield while waiting to help ambush Qin Jian. They spotted a battered group of sword cultivators but, after the Golden Core senior dismissed the report, Quan Jie released the bird again.

• Qian Feng and Quan Jie agreed to join Pan Hao's plan to help hunt Qin Jian in exchange for a share of the bounty and merit.
• Quan Jie released his Ruoling Bird to scout, and it returned with its feathers covered in ice after spotting more than a dozen fleeing sword cultivators about thirty li west.
• Qian Feng and Quan Jie considered pursuing the scattered swordsmen but decided not to interfere with Pan Hao's plans or risk offending the Xunyan Sect.
• Qian Feng reported the sighting, but Pan Hao said the Golden Core senior had paid it no heed.
• An hour later, Quan Jie released the Ruoling Bird again, and it appeared to be trembling and unable to adapt to the cold.

Quan Jie and Qian Feng led an ambush against fleeing sword cultivators, but the apparent prey had lured them onto a glacier where hidden Illusion Sword Swordsmen counterattacked. Quan Jie and Qian Feng were killed, and two Illusion Sword Swordsmen emerged from the ice to join the battle.

• Quan Jie spotted a group of fleeing sword cultivators, and Qian Feng summoned Pan Hao and the hidden cultivators to pursue them.
• Nearly four hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators surrounded the three hundred sword cultivators, who fled across a glacier as their pursuers attacked.
• Quan Jie and Qian Feng chased female swordswomen, while the white-haired Golden Core cultivator found no sign of an ambush and ordered the attack.
• Red plum blossoms burst from the glacier, shattered Quan Jie's defenses, and killed him.
• An Illusion Sword Swordsman emerged from the ice, killed Lian Bao with a punch, and then struck Qian Feng dead.
• Two sturdy middle-aged Illusion Sword Swordsmen burst from the glacier and flew into the sky.

Quan Jie and Qian Feng led a Foundation Establishment ambush against fleeing sword cultivators, only to discover the group had baited them into a trap. Two Illusion Sword Swordsmen burst from the glacier and slaughtered the ambushers, leaving the battle turned against the cultivators.

• Quan Jie spotted a fleeing group of about three hundred sword cultivators, and Qian Feng alerted Pan Hao while hidden cultivators prepared to move.
• Nearly four hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators emerged and surrounded the sword cultivators, who scattered as the ambushers attacked.
• Quan Jie and Qian Feng pursued female swordswomen, but the swordsmen calmly counterattacked after the Golden Core cultivator ordered the assault.
• Red Plum Blossoms erupted from the glacier and pierced Quan Jie, killing him instantly.
• An Illusion Sword Swordsman burst from the ice, smashed Lian Bao, and killed Qian Feng with a single punch.
• Two robust middle-aged Illusion Sword Swordsmen emerged from the glacier as the ambush collapsed.

Sword Friend Guan and Sword Friend Liao fought Pang Chongtian, Jiang Shan, and Luan Jiansheng until the avian cultivators Sword Friend Feng and Sword Friend Yu arrived and drove the attackers away. As Guan Peng joined the pursuit, his divine sense found Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao, who wondered whether it belonged to Qin Jian.

• Luan Jiansheng used an imitation Spirit Severing Flying Dagger to destroy many of Sword Friend Guan's Red Plum Blossom sword lights and threaten him.
• Sword Friend Guan tried to flee, but Pang Chongtian blocked his path with the Eight Trigrams Banner while Luan Jiansheng attacked again.
• Sword Friend Feng and Sword Friend Yu swooped in and attacked the three Golden Core cultivators with wind blades and empowered ice.
• Pang Chongtian, Jiang Shan, and Luan Jiansheng fled, and Sword Friend Feng and Sword Friend Yu pursued them.
• Guan Peng scanned the area with his divine sense, briefly detecting Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao aboard the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat.
• Xiao Hua asked Li Zongbao whether the divine sense that had paused over them belonged to Qin Jian.

Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao hurried toward a battle on the Swift Wind Snowfield, where hundreds of Dao Sect cultivators were surrounded by sword cultivators. Li Zongbao intervened fiercely to protect the Joyful Sect disciples, but the swordsmen regrouped to wear him down as other cultivators moved to support him.

• Xiao Hua sensed seven enemy cultivators, including avian cultivator Fellow Daoist Wind, but withdrew his Buddhist sense before they could identify him.
• Fellow Daoist Wind suspected someone was spying, but Guan Peng reassured him that only two Foundation Establishment cultivators were nearby, and they continued pursuing Pang Chongtian and the others.
• Li Zongbao detected the battle ahead and urged Xiao Hua to speed the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat toward the ice lake.
• Li Zongbao recognized endangered Joyful Sect disciples and struck down several swordsmen with his Immortal-Piercing Whip, then broke through the attacks of more than a dozen Bright Sword swordsmen.
• The surviving swordsmen called for another assault to exhaust Li Zongbao, while Dao Sect cultivators flew to support him.

Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao fought off a large force of Bright Sword Swordsmen, but their powerful attacks strained their spiritual power and left them vulnerable. Xiao Hua put away the Soul Capturing Bell after suffering backlash, while the swordsmen pressed their attack as Li Zongbao’s condition worsened.

• Xiao Hua used the Town Cloud Seal to smash several Bright Sword Swordsmen while Li Zongbao attacked the surrounding swordsmen with the Immortal-Piercing Whip.
• Xiao Hua rang the Soul Capturing Bell repeatedly, knocking dozens of swordsmen from the sky and allowing nearby cultivators to attack them.
• The Soul Capturing Bell’s backlash left Xiao Hua’s Primordial Spirit exhausted, so he stored the bell and the soul toad away.
• Xiao Hua continued fighting with the Town Cloud Seal, and he and Li Zongbao together caused more than a hundred swordsmen to fall.
• A Bright Sword Swordsman urged the others to attack, while the cultivators saw that Li Zongbao was flushed from taking too many pills and his whip had weakened.

Xiao Hua released his Phoenix Dharma Body and drove the swordsmen into a panicked retreat by revealing the power behind his Terrifying Phoenix reputation. The surviving cultivators stopped to recover rather than pursue, and Li Zongbao urged Xiao Hua to hide his apparent exhaustion in case the swordsmen returned.

• Xiao Hua used the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors to destroy a flying sword threatening Li Zongbao, then released his Phoenix Dharma Body.
• The Phoenix Dharma Body unleashed lightning that struck down swordsmen and prompted one to identify Xiao Hua as the Terrifying Phoenix.
• Terrified by the rumors of Terrifying Phoenix, nearly five or six hundred swordsmen fled the battlefield, and Xiao Hua ordered the cultivators to pursue them.
• Xiao Hua discovered that his Phoenix Dharma Body could move more than twenty zhang away from his physical body before it stopped.
• The surviving Dao sect cultivators refused to pursue, citing their losses and fear of another ambush, while Xiao Hua pretended his magical power had suffered a backlash.
• Li Zongbao said they should change locations quickly and warned Xiao Hua to conceal his exhaustion in case the swordsmen returned.

Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao led the surviving cultivators to a hidden refuge, where Xiao Hua learned that his old acquaintance Zhuo Qingyuan had died and that Xiao Mao was fighting in the Great Sword Dao Battle. Pan Hao's final revelation left Xiao Hua alarmed about Xiao Mao's whereabouts.

• Li Zongbao led the cultivators away from the sword cultivators and into concealment near an icy lake.
• After the group recovered, Pan Hao explained that Xunyan Sect had arranged the operation and that Martial Uncle Pang had drawn enemy Golden Core cultivators toward a spirit stone mine.
• Pan Hao told Xiao Hua that Zhuo Qingyuan had died in her first battle, leaving Xiao Hua sorrowful as he remembered their past meetings.
• Xiao Hua asked about Xiao Mao, and Pan Hao said he had advanced to mid Foundation Establishment and was still fighting under Yuan Zhiming's orders.
• Xiao Hua grew uneasy when Pan Hao said Xiao Mao was with their group and began asking where he was.