Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua learned that Xiao Mao was stationed at the Xunyan Sect's spirit stone mine and raced there to save him. Feng Buping intercepted him and revealed that the sword cultivators had used an ambush to lure out the mine's Golden Core defender, leaving Xiao Hua fearing the mine had already fallen.

• Xiao Hua forced Pan Hao to reveal the location of the Xunyan Sect's spirit stone mine, then left to find Xiao Mao.
• Li Zongbao warned Pan Hao to keep Xiao Hua's identity and origins private, and Pan Hao misled the Xunyan Sect disciples who questioned him.
• As Xiao Hua flew toward the mine, he reasoned that the sword cultivators' real target had been the Xunyan Sect's spirit stone mine and resolved to protect Xiao Mao as his younger brother.
• Feng Buping of Qun'e Valley intercepted Xiao Hua and identified him as the reputed Terrifying Phoenix, while Xiao Hua demanded to know what had happened at the mine.
• Feng Buping explained that the ambush was designed to draw out the mine's Golden Core defender, leading Xiao Hua to suspect the mine had already fallen and Xiao Mao's fate had been decided.

Xiao Hua and Feng Buping traded questions about the Xunyan Sect attack, Ling Yunwu, the Sword Pouch, and Xiao Hua’s identity before their fight began. Xiao Hua reclaimed the swords inside the pouch, but Feng Buping broke through the Town Cloud Seal’s clouds with his demonic staff and wind blades.

• Feng Buping questioned Xiao Hua about his Thunder Palace and name, while Xiao Hua tried to learn which Illusion Sword Swordsmen had attacked the Xunyan Sect’s spirit stone mine.
• Xiao Hua gave his name and coaxed Feng Buping into revealing that a secret divine-eye technique let him see through Xiao Hua’s cultivation.
• Feng Buping asked about Ling Yunwu and the other sixteen, and Xiao Hua showed him the Sword Pouch and its flying swords.
• Xiao Hua used the Sword Pouch to draw the swords back and store them away, while Feng Buping revealed a jade slip containing his divine-eye cultivation art.
• Feng Buping attacked with a demonic staff and wind blades, and Xiao Hua used the Town Cloud Seal to summon clouds that Feng Buping tore apart.

Xiao Hua fought Feng Buping across the Swift Wind Snowfield, losing the Town Cloud Seal but overcoming Feng Buping with his As-You-Wish Staff, Phoenix Dharma Body, and control of the Wind Pearl. Feng Buping then burned his life to open a spatial rift, which began pulling in Xiao Hua and his Phoenix Dharma Body.

• Xiao Hua and Feng Buping clashed with their staffs, and Feng Buping repeatedly struck the Town Cloud Seal's damaged spot until the treasure nearly split apart.
• Feng Buping used a talisman to try to seize the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors, but Xiao Hua restrained them with Sleeve Universe and the Dharma Eye before the talisman flew north toward an unknown person.
• Xiao Hua fought back with the As-You-Wish Staff, while Feng Buping revealed his Sword Transformation-level bird form and trapped Xiao Hua amid violent winds.
• Xiao Hua summoned his Phoenix Dharma Body, whose heavenly lightning battered Feng Buping and his Wind Pearl, then used Sleeve Universe to take control of the Wind Pearl.
• As Feng Buping weakened, he burned his life to create a spatial rift, and its suction began dragging in Xiao Hua's Phoenix Dharma Body while Xiao Hua struggled to escape.

Xiao Hua survived Feng Buping’s spatial rift, though his Phoenix Dharma Body and Feng Buping’s storage bag were lost; he salvaged the demonic staff and fled. At the Xunyan Sect spirit stone mine, he searched among the dead and captured cultivators for Xiao Mao, then was recognized by an unexpected acquaintance.

• The spatial rift swallowed Xiao Hua’s Phoenix Dharma Body, but its suction abruptly stopped before it could pull him in.
• Xiao Hua found Feng Buping’s demonic staff in a stone wall and flew toward the Xunyan Sect spirit stone mine.
• Xiao Hua reached the mine, hid overnight to restore his magic power, then slipped past the sword cultivators and searched the gathered corpses for Xiao Mao.
• Xiao Hua captured a Bright Sword swordsman, found the cave holding the prisoners, and entered after dispelling its protective flying sword.
• Xiao Hua searched the captured cultivators for Xiao Mao until a limping prisoner recognized him as Xiao Hua of the Thunder Control Sect.

Xiao Hua freed Zhang Xiaogang and several other Xunyan Sect disciples, then learned that Xiao Mao had been captured by an Illusion Sword Cultivator and taken away. He left the remaining disciples restrained for their safety and flew deeper into the spirit stone mine after questioning a captured Bright Sword Swordsman.

• Xiao Hua restored Zhang Xiaogang’s cultivation and gave him healing pills, but Zhang Xiaogang could not undo the sword cultivators’ restrictions on the other disciples.
• Xiao Hua asked the Xunyan Sect disciples about Xiao Mao and learned that an Illusion Sword Cultivator had taken him away with several others.
• Xiao Hua told the remaining disciples to stay put, secretly spoke with Zhang Xiaogang, and accepted a jade slip from him.
• Xiao Hua left the cave, placed a flying sword above it to make it appear guarded, and questioned a captured Bright Sword Swordsman about the Illusion Sword Cultivator’s location.
• Xiao Hua flew deeper into the spirit stone mine.

Guan Peng reflected on his plot to seize the Xunyan Sect’s spirit stone mine before Xiao Hua confronted him in his cave. Their clash ended with Guan Peng pausing to negotiate, leaving Xiao Hua puzzled by his sudden offer of Blood Linglong.

• Guan Peng recalled how he and his allies had lured Pang Chongtian into an ambush to locate the Xunyan Sect’s mine and prepared thousands of swordsmen to attack it.
• Xiao Hua appeared in Guan Peng’s cave and claimed he had come to make a deal.
• Guan Peng attacked Xiao Hua with his Red Plum Blossom sword, but Xiao Hua countered with the Leaf Sun Fan and trapped Guan Peng’s little sword in a net of fire.
• Guan Peng recognized Xiao Hua as the Thunder Control Sect’s Terrifying Phoenix and asked what deal he wanted.
• Guan Peng stopped the fight, poured Blood Linglong, and asked Xiao Hua whether he had ever tasted it.

Xiao Hua negotiated with Guan Peng, an injured Illusion Sword swordsman, to free the Xunyan Sect cultivators he had captured. Xiao Hua left Guan Peng trapped and waiting to decide whether to accept the exchange.

• Guan Peng warned Xiao Hua that he could use a secret sword technique to take them both down, while Xiao Hua refused to be provoked into attacking.
• Xiao Hua learned that Guan Peng was from Flying Spirit Mountain Villa and questioned him about the missing Illusion Sword swordsmen and Ling Yunwu.
• Guan Peng refused to release the Xunyan Sect cultivators, calling their capture a great merit, but Xiao Hua argued that his death would only add to Xiao Hua’s reputation.
• Xiao Hua admitted he could not remove the restrictions on the captives without Guan Peng’s help and offered him the chance to enjoy Blood Linglong in exchange for cooperating.
• Xiao Hua destroyed Guan Peng’s cup and wine with Samadhi True Fire, then withdrew the fire net and left Guan Peng to consider the deal.

Xiao Hua coerced Guan Peng into arranging the escape of the imprisoned Xunyan Sect disciples, then secretly looted a hidden spirit-stone cache. He headed north toward Yin Yang Spring Mountain to pursue Xiao Mao and the others, while wondering whether Feng Buping was connected to Empress.

• Guan Peng summoned Guan Qi and directed him to lead the imprisoned Xunyan Sect disciples through a hidden passage so they could escape without Feng Buping discovering the plan.
• After nearly four hundred disciples escaped, Guan Peng pretended to investigate, and Xiao Hua returned his natal flying sword as promised.
• Xiao Hua entered a heavily restricted cave in the mine using the Rabbit Spirit Talisman and took its neatly stacked spirit stones.
• Xiao Hua identified Yin Yang Spring Mountain as the likely destination of the Illusion Sword Swordsmen who had taken Xiao Mao and the others, and chose not to bring Li Zongbao.
• Xiao Hua flew north using Thunder Control Movement and considered whether Feng Buping's wind escape and Spirit Bird were connected to Empress.

After recovering from his battle with Feng Buping, Xiao Hua considered how to replace his lost Dharma Body and reached Yin Yang Spring Mountain. While exploring its hot and cold springs, he spotted a rare rain lotus.

• Xiao Hua stored Feng Buping's Wind Bead and demonic staff, but his Primordial Spirit and Dharma Body gave no response.
• Xiao Hua wondered whether he could cultivate a new Dharma Body by using true blood from a spirit beast or a Cultivation family.
• Two days later, Xiao Hua arrived at the vast, mist-shrouded Yin Yang Spring Mountain.
• Xiao Hua explored its emerald lakes and found fountains that sprayed either hot or exceptionally cold water.
• Xiao Hua noticed a rain lotus gleaming on a distant lake.

Xiao Hua watched a rain lotus bloom and reflected on earning military merit without attracting the attention of his unknown enemy. After a white snake stole the lotus’s pistil and attacked him in the lake, he recovered the lotus root and pursued the snakes through the rock tunnels before turning his attention back to finding Xiao Mao.

• Xiao Hua watched the rain lotus bloom and considered whether to seek greater military merit by killing Qin Jian, despite fearing that success would expose him to his unknown enemy.
• A white snake stole a rain lotus pistil, and Xiao Hua let it escape before diving into the lake to collect the sinking root.
• The white snake attacked Xiao Hua underwater, then more than a dozen snakes emerged and repeatedly targeted him with ice spikes.
• Xiao Hua’s fire and ice techniques failed in the lake, so he released Zhu Meng’s flying swords and chased the snakes into the rock wall with the Art of Earth Evasion.
• After pursuing a white snake through the tunnels, Xiao Hua abandoned the chase and tunneled upward to resume searching for Xiao Mao.

Xiao Hua discovered the frozen remains of Dui Lei Palace disciples in Ice Spring and found a token linking them to the Thunder Control Sect. Though he initially chose to seek Xiao Mao rather than risk saving a Golden Core senior master, the chain of clues made him question whether fate had led him to rescue that senior master instead.

• Xiao Hua found a steaming lake where hot and cold springs erupted, and Ice Spring later released bloodied robes and mutilated corpses.
• Xiao Hua retrieved two storage bags from Ice Spring and found a Dui Lei Palace disciple’s token in one of them.
• Xiao Hua connected the dead cultivators to the Dui Lei Palace disciples he had encountered earlier and considered whether to help their endangered Golden Core senior master.
• Xiao Hua decided to prioritize saving Xiao Mao, believing the senior master’s peril was beyond his ability and that helping would expose his strength.
• As Xiao Hua flew over Ice Spring, he reconsidered whether the chain of events had brought him there to save the senior master rather than Xiao Mao.

Xiao Hua followed the karma surrounding a missing Golden Core senior master beneath Yin Yang Spring Mountain, where he discovered an immense underground spirit stone mine. Little Silver found a clean, water-filled tunnel but warned Xiao Hua that the way ahead was dangerously perilous, leaving him to investigate later.

• Xiao Hua tried to descend beneath the deep lake, sensed a strange blue pressure in the mountain, and decided to search for the trapped Golden Core senior master.
• Xiao Hua released Little Silver, which led him to a vein of rare azure water-attributed spirit stones.
• Xiao Hua mined the vein with puppets and discovered that Yin Yang Spring Mountain had once been an abandoned sword cultivator's spirit stone mine.
• Xiao Hua brought Little Silver out again, and it led him through the rock to a clean tunnel where water flowed deeper underground.
• Little Silver lay motionless to warn Xiao Hua of danger ahead, then led him back when he ordered it to retreat.

Xiao Hua followed Thunder Control Sect marks through a long tunnel and found a vast abyss where powerful gales swept downward. After being thrown onto a ledge, he crossed to a windless crack in the opposite cliff, where a faint light came from deep inside.

• Xiao Hua realized that the amount he could store in his space depended on the strength of his mind and prepared to continue through the tunnel with the Leaf Sun Fan for protection.
• Xiao Hua found Thunder Control Sect marks along the tunnel and reached its end, where a deep abyss filled with rushing water and powerful downward winds opened below him.
• Xiao Hua decided to descend into the abyss, but intersecting hurricanes overwhelmed his defenses and hurled him onto a broad ledge.
• Xiao Hua found no passage on the ledge and used wind escape to cross toward a faint light on the opposite cliff.
• Xiao Hua discovered a tall crack in the cliff, found no wind inside it, and saw that the light came from deeper within.

Xiao Hua explored a fissure where dense water-attributed spiritual qi weakened his fire techniques, then stumbled into a sword formation concealed around a massive stone pillar. Trapped with his true essence sealed and unable to move from his position, he continued defending himself with the As-You-Wish Staff.

• Xiao Hua found that the water-attributed spiritual qi extinguished the Leaf Sun Fan's fire dragon and weakened his Samadhi True Fire, so he relied on the As-You-Wish Staff.
• Xiao Hua walked deeper into the silent fissure, discovered that its spiritual qi was difficult to absorb but yielded abundant true essence, and spotted a massive stone pillar with green lights.
• Xiao Hua looked toward a flash on the pillar and triggered a hidden formation made by four flying swords, which enclosed him in a vast space filled with sword light.
• Xiao Hua shattered the incoming sword lights with the As-You-Wish Staff, but the formation sealed his true essence when he tried to use magic power.
• Xiao Hua retreated while fending off the swords, yet after walking for a meal's time he had not moved even half an inch.

Xiao Hua fought his way through a sword formation and found the mortally wounded Dui Miaoqing, a Thunder Control Sect Golden Core cultivator. Before dying, she entrusted him with a warning about the sword cultivators’ secret and her remains and inheritance, leaving Xiao Hua to find a way out and deliver the news.

• Xiao Hua used the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors and Big Dipper Divine Fist against the sword formation, then spotted another trapped cultivator through his Dharma Eye.
• Xiao Hua reached Dui Miaoqing, who confirmed her identity and learned that the message she had sent through her disciples had not reached the Thunder Control Sect.
• Xiao Hua shielded Dui Miaoqing with his As-You-Wish Staff as she explained that her Chaomeng Pearl and severe injuries could not keep her alive much longer.
• Dui Miaoqing told Xiao Hua that Dui Hui had discovered a sword-cultivator secret near the Swift Wind Snowfield and urged him to escape and report its importance to the Thunder Control Sect or Xuntian City.
• Dui Miaoqing entrusted Xiao Hua with her remains and inheritance, then died as the Chaomeng Pearl fell onto her chest.

Xiao Hua escaped the sword formation and discovered that a spindle-shaped rock pillar was the core of Yin Yang Spring Mountain. Convinced that fate had brought him there to expose the sword cultivators’ secret and help stop the war, he chose to investigate rather than leave.

• Xiao Hua used his Seven Star Great Formation to pass through the sword formation and collected Dui Hui’s corpse before escaping.
• Xiao Hua saw the enormous rock pillar and initially decided to leave the dangerous secret to stronger cultivators so he could focus on saving Xiao Mao.
• Xiao Hua felt an inexplicable pull toward the pillar, reconsidered his past experiences, and concluded that he had been led there to expose the sword cultivators’ secret and stop the war.
• Xiao Hua examined the pillar with his Dharma Eye and saw pale-blue radiance flowing toward its red-tinted upper tip and green-tinted lower tip, identifying it as the core of Yin Yang Spring Mountain.

Xiao Hua braved the opposing forces around the rock pillar and discovered that a fist-sized opening led into a vast space filled with Innate Water Qi. After squeezing through the opening, he lost his Primordial Spirit upon seeing the jade-green waves and bubbles within.

• Xiao Hua entered the rock pillar's abyssal range, found that greater spiritual power intensified the crushing pressure, and survived by relying on his physical strength.
• Xiao Hua approached the pillar's center, balanced the opposing upward and downward forces, and saw a green-lit area through his Dharma Eye.
• Xiao Hua circled the pillar and found a fist-sized hole, which he identified as an entrance to the Innate Jellyfish formed from Innate Water Qi.
• Xiao Hua twisted his body to squeeze through the hole and entered a space filled with jade-green waves and countless bubbles.
• Xiao Hua looked at the bubbles and immediately lost his Primordial Spirit.

Xiao Hua fought through the Innate True Water to reach Little White Dragon, who was trapped in a sword formation beneath a flying sword absorbing Taiwei Azure Light. After his staff and divine sense failed to break the trap, Xiao Hua used spirit fire to wrap around the Innate Golden Mother, leaving the flying sword sounding an alarm.

• Xiao Hua escaped the Innate True Water's illusions after hearing Little White Dragon's cry, then used the As-You-Wish Staff to push through the water and its crushing pressure.
• Xiao Hua found Little White Dragon suffering inside a sword formation while a flying sword absorbed Taiwei Azure Light and drew the dragon's soul toward it.
• Xiao Hua's Sleeve Universe was pierced by the flying sword, and his repeated staff blows failed to damage it.
• Xiao Hua tried to collect the Innate Jellyfish with his divine sense, but withdrew after its illusions overwhelmed him.
• Xiao Hua's Lingmou Zhu Fire melted into blue radiance, but his scarlet spirit fire reached the Innate Golden Mother and wrapped around it.
• The flying sword gave a mournful cry as Xiao Hua's spirit fire enclosed the Innate Golden Mother, Innate True Water, and Taiwei Azure Light.

Xiao Hua fought the Tai Wei Azure Light Sword to free Little White Dragon’s soul, enduring severe wounds as his blood helped the soul regain strength. Little White Dragon escaped the sword formation, but its soul faded again, and Xiao Hua called for Little Yellow.

• Xiao Hua collected the spirit fire and Innate Jellyfish into his space, but the Tai Wei Azure Light Sword fled with Little White Dragon trapped in its sword formation.
• Xiao Hua caught the sword formation with Sleeve Universe and battled the sword’s attacks, suffering deep wounds as pale blue light eroded his arm.
• Drops of Xiao Hua’s blood reached Little White Dragon, whose soul brightened and surged against the formation as the sword’s attacks lost track of it.
• Little White Dragon broke through the sword formation, and Xiao Hua struck the Tai Wei Azure Light Sword, which escaped through the hole in the rock pillar.
• Little White Dragon shrank and faded after its release, so Xiao Hua withdrew his divine sense and summoned Little Yellow from his space.

Xiao Hua rescued Little White Dragon’s fading soul by pulling it into Qi Heaven, where it began recovering near the Chansi Wood. He then gathered Innate True Water with the Chaomeng Pearl and found golden leaves in a bald cultivator’s storage bag, just like the Golden Rhythm Han Zhu from the Kunlun Sect.

• Little Yellow reacted violently to Little White Dragon’s soul, so Xiao Hua returned it to his space and used Soul Threads to pull Little White into Qi Heaven.
• Xiao Hua discovered that Little White Dragon enjoyed the Chansi Wood’s fragrance and drew it into Qi Heaven, where it thanked him and fell asleep as the wood’s aura flowed toward it.
• Xiao Hua examined his healing arm and decided to leave the stone pillar, but first refined the Chaomeng Pearl enough to absorb some of the Innate True Water.
• Xiao Hua searched the storage bags of Dui Miaoqing, Dui Hui, and the others for a container and found a cracked green jade bottle in a bald cultivator’s bag.
• Xiao Hua found several golden leaves in the bald cultivator’s storage bag that matched the Golden Rhythm Han Zhu from the Kunlun Sect.