Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua and Zhuo Hui drove the Giant Wolf, revealed as Liang Qi, into fleeing before Zhuo Hui pursued and killed him. After sharing Innate True Water and Liang Qi’s spoils, the group learned that Dao Sect forces were winning elsewhere at Flowing Ice Valley, and Zhuo Hui asked how the Foundation Establishment battle was going.

• The Giant Wolf used his inner core to create a hurricane passage through Xiao Hua’s Innate True Water, but Zhuo Hui pursued him into a lava tunnel and killed him.
• Xiao Mao told Xiao Hua that his master needed Innate True Water, and Xiao Hua gave him ninety-eight drops to take back to his master.
• Xiao Hua collected the remaining Innate True Water, while Li Zongbao declined any and Zhuo Hui warned him about the Immortal-Piercing Whip’s backlash.
• Zhuo Hui offered Xiao Hua Liang Qi’s storage bag, and Xiao Hua took half the water-element spirit stones and the Fangtian Huaji while leaving the rest to Zhuo Hui.
• Zhuo Hui reported that Xu Bo had slain Lü Jing and was helping Li Feiyu pursue Qin Muming, then asked about the Foundation Establishment cultivators’ battle.

Xiao Hua, Xiao Mao, and Li Zongbao left the cavern after learning that its spirit-stone vein had long been exhausted, then Li Zongbao guided them through the maze toward the fleeing sword cultivators. They reunited with Dao Sect disciples celebrating their victory, and the other sects praised Xiao Hua and Xiao Mao for their contributions as the pursuit continued.

• Xiao Hua and Xiao Mao discovered that Flowing Ice Valley’s spirit-stone vein had been mined out, and Li Zongbao explained that the cavern had been used to test the sword cultivators.
• Xiao Hua became lost in the maze of caverns, so Li Zongbao led him and Xiao Mao toward the sounds of the battle.
• Several fleeing sword cultivators turned into a side cavern when they saw Li Zongbao, while Joyful Sect disciples arrived from behind them.
• Joyful Sect disciples thanked Li Zongbao, Xiao Hua, and Xiao Mao for helping defeat the sword cultivators, and Li Zongbao reported that Martial Uncle Zhuo Hui had slain Liang Qi.
• Taibai Sect and Qingfeng Valley disciples arrived and praised Xiao Hua and Xiao Mao, while Xiao Mao drew the group’s attention with his smooth conversation.
• Li Zongbao raised his hand and asked the gathered disciples to be quiet.

Li Zongbao learned that the battle at Flowing Ice Valley had ended with Qin Muming’s death, but a terrifying disturbance soon struck the underground mine. Xiao Hua suspected Qin Jian had planned a massacre like Quanjin Mountain, and the chapter ended as the fleeing cultivators discovered their true essence was rapidly disappearing.

• Li Zongbao received word that Zhuo Hui and Li Feiyu had helped kill Qin Muming, though Li Feiyu had suffered Qin Muming’s dying blow.
• As the cultivators prepared to avenge Li Feiyu, powerful tremors and a shockwave swept through the mine, throwing them from the air.
• Xiao Hua led the others to suspect Qin Jian had engineered the disturbance to trap and kill Dao Sect cultivators beneath Flowing Ice Valley.
• Li Zongbao and the others searched for an exit, while Xiao Hua privately believed he could escape using his evasion techniques and talismans.
• The gathered cultivators discovered that their true essence was rapidly vanishing even after they stopped moving.

Xiao Hua and the others discovered that Flowing Ice Valley’s water-attributed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi caused their true essence to vanish, leaving them vulnerable to Qin Jian’s plans. They hid in a concealed dead end, where Xiao Hua revealed that he knew something about detoxification.

• Xiao Hua realized that the blue radiance had poisoned the water-attributed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, and the group found that cultivation and medicinal pills could not restore their true essence.
• Li Zongbao warned the panicked cultivators that Qin Jian might be waiting at the valley exit, and Xiao Mao advised them to avoid the swordsmen and find a safe place.
• Xiao Hua led the group into a concealed dead-end cavern with a narrow entrance, where Xiao Mao proposed investigating the poison.
• When Li Zongbao asked whether anyone understood poisons, Xiao Hua said that he had some knowledge of detoxification.

Xiao Hua discovered that contaminated water-attributed spiritual energy was entering the cultivators’ bodies and draining their true essence, even while they remained still. He left the karst cave to search for other disciples and a way out, while Li Zongbao’s group argued over whether those departing should swear to keep the cave’s location secret.

• Xiao Hua tried to identify the mysterious affliction, found that his true essence vanished as it circulated, and concealed the cave entrance with a formation.
• Xiao Hua used his Eye of Delusion Breaking to see that the cave and its spiritual energy were saturated with deep blue, and confirmed that the contaminated energy was entering Xiao Mao’s body.
• Xiao Hua warned Li Zongbao that hiding would not protect them from the tainted spiritual energy and that Qin Jian might have anticipated their refuge.
• Xiao Hua left the cave alone to search for more disciples, a way out, or a Golden Core cultivator, refusing a Qingfeng Valley disciple’s request to accompany him.
• Li Zongbao told the gathered cultivators that anyone could leave once, but a Changbai Sect disciple demanded that the departing Qingfeng Valley disciple swear not to reveal their location.

Xiao Hua searched for a weak point in the stone walls so he could escape, but found that the rock resisted his Earth Evasion and consumed his true essence. After rescuing Niu Ming from sword cultivators, Xiao Hua grew suspicious of his flying sword and secret technique, knocked him unconscious, and examined his jade slips.

• Xiao Hua found that Earth Evasion through the stone wall consumed too much true essence, so he searched for dimmer, thinner rock strata as a possible way out.
• After searching for hours and leaving more than a hundred marks, Xiao Hua heard sword cultivators pursuing a Changbai Sect disciple.
• Xiao Hua’s reputation frightened the three pursuers away, and the rescued disciple introduced himself as Niu Ming.
• Niu Ming admitted he had practiced a secret technique under a blood oath but refused to explain how he had evaded Xuntian City's inspection.
• Xiao Hua seized Niu Ming, knocked him unconscious, copied the jade slips in his storage pouch, and began examining them.

Xiao Hua discovered that Changbai Sect disciples could conceal sword essence to avoid the strange spiritual energy, and he found that dead-end caverns had unusually thin walls. Back at Li Zongbao’s shelter, he learned that thousands of cultivators had gathered and that a Changbai Sect elder named Bai Fei might know how to treat the poison.

• Xiao Hua deduced that selected Changbai Sect disciples used concealed sword essence and advised Niu Ming to seek out Li Zongbao’s group.
• Xiao Hua considered learning sword cultivation, then found several dead-end caverns with thin walls and marked his route back.
• Xiao Hua returned to Li Zongbao’s cavern and found several thousand cultivators gathered there.
• Li Zongbao told Xiao Hua that no one had identified the poison or found an effective antidote, and that one disciple had died.
• Changbai Sect disciples arrived with Ye Bei and Jian Boming, while Bai Fei remained behind and offered a possible clue about the poison.

Bai Fei traded information about the Spirit Binding Juice for a secret technique, and the group learned that the poison would fade after three days or exposure to strong wind outside water-rich areas. Their hope of waiting it out was threatened when Qin Jian flooded the karst cave with river water from Flowing Ice Valley.

• Bai Fei demanded a secret technique from Ye Bei in exchange for a jade pendant containing information about the poison.
• Ye Bei gave Bai Fei a jade slip, then confirmed from the pendant that the group had been poisoned by Spirit Binding Juice.
• Xiao Hua and the others learned that Spirit Binding Juice wore off after three days or when victims left water-rich areas and faced strong wind.
• Xiao Mao suggested they only had to endure two more days, but Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao feared Qin Jian would not let them recover in peace.
• A distant rushing sound alerted Xiao Hua that Qin Jian had diverted the Flowing Ice Valley river into the karst cave.

Xiao Hua used the Sea-Overturning Seal to blast a passage through the rock as river water threatened the trapped cultivators. Bai Fei recognized the treasure by its sound and offered its secret techniques in exchange for a place in the escape and sword-cultivator gear.

• Xiao Hua led Li Zongbao and the others to a dead-end cave, where he began smashing through the rock with the Sea-Overturning Seal.
• Li Zongbao organized the disciples to guard the cave entrance, block the river water, and keep sword cultivators away.
• Bai Fei recognized the Sea-Overturning Seal from its sounds and offered to give Xiao Hua its refining and use techniques.
• Bai Fei asked to be among the first to pass through the new passage and demanded a sword-cultivator technique and an Illusion Sword flying sword in return.
• Li Zongbao asked Xiao Hua about the offer, and Xiao Hua was astonished that Bai Fei had identified the seal by sound alone.

Xiao Hua accepted Bai Fei’s jade slip in exchange for a sword slip and flying sword, then studied the Sea-Overturning Seal while the disciples worked to break a passage through the rock wall. As the river stopped and thousands of sword cultivators attacked, the trapped sects organized their forces to defend the cave and keep the escape route open.

• Xiao Hua found that Bai Fei’s jade slip contained secret techniques for three Changbai Sect seals, agreed to Bai Fei’s conditions, and gave Li Zongbao a sword slip and flying sword to deliver in return.
• Li Zongbao organized the Joyful Sect disciples to help Xiao Hua break open the passage, while the other cultivators rotated through the defenses against the flooding river.
• After nearly half an hour, the river stopped, but Xiao Mao warned that several thousand sword cultivators had launched another attack.
• Ye Bei led the Changbai Sect disciples into battle, and Li Zongbao sent the Joyful Sect and Qingfeng Valley disciples to fight while others continued opening the passage.
• The sword cultivators skirmished and retreated instead of fighting to the death, and the cultivators suffered more losses as they tried to defend the cave.

As the cultivators struggled to hold off the sword cultivators, Xiao Hua joined the Qingfeng Valley disciples in opening the tunnel and found a Daoist formation fused with Spirit Binding Juice. He used the complete Sea-Overturning Seal to break through the rock far faster than expected, leaving the passage closer to its end.

• Li Zongbao realized the exhausted cultivators might not survive unless the passage was opened within half an hour, while the Changbai Sect disciples continued to hold back the sword cultivators.
• Xiao Hua offered to help the Qingfeng Valley disciples open the passage and told Li Zongbao that the secret technique Bai Fei had mentioned was genuine.
• Xiao Hua reached a blue formation in the tunnel, recognized that it was a Daoist formation fused with Spirit Binding Juice, and used the Rabbit Spirit Talisman to open a hole through it.
• Xiao Hua sent Fire Talismans into the opening and used the complete Sea-Overturning Seal to excavate nearly ten zhang of rock.

Xiao Hua broke through the earth and reopened the passage, then returned to the besieged cultivators just as they prepared to abandon their rear guard. His arrival restored order and morale, leaving the remaining disciples to withdraw while he faced the sword cultivators.

• Xiao Hua realized the Spirit Binding Juice near the cliff top had mostly dissipated, replenished his true essence, and drove the Sea-Overturning Seal through the earth until he opened a passage to the cavern.
• Xiao Hua sent Li Zongbao a communication talisman, and Li Zongbao announced that the passage was open and ordered the cultivators to follow their plan.
• Bai Fei rushed into the passage, while Ye Bei and Jian Boming volunteered to help the Joyful Sect hold the rear as injured disciples withdrew.
• Li Zongbao had Xiao Mao direct the evacuation, and the disciples began leaving in an orderly fashion despite the sword cultivators' increasingly fierce attacks.
• Xiao Hua returned to the cavern, promised that everyone would escape, and ordered Xiao Mao to maintain order before standing against the sword cultivators and lifting the defenders' morale.

Xiao Hua used Innate True Water to hold back the sword cultivators while the Dao Sect cultivators escaped through the passage, then destroyed the passage with fire talismans. As the group fled Flowing Ice Valley, they witnessed Qin Jian kill Xu Bo and Zhuo Hui, and Xiao Hua restrained Li Zongbao from charging at him.

• Xiao Hua told the Dao Sect cultivators to close their eyes and retreat by divine sense, then swept nearby sword cultivators aside with Innate True Water.
• Xiao Hua, Li Zongbao, and Xiao Mao brought the last group through the passage, where Xiao Hua's fire talismans destroyed the passage and buried the pursuing sword cultivators.
• Xiao Hua pushed more than a hundred exhausted cultivators out of Flowing Ice Valley and urged them to flee as their magical power recovered.
• Qin Jian killed Xu Bo and Zhuo Hui when they confronted him with a rainbow glow and golden threads.
• Li Zongbao tried to attack Qin Jian, but Xiao Hua locked down his true essence and dragged him away.

Xiao Hua diverted Qin Jian from the fleeing cultivators by revealing himself as the Terrifying Phoenix, then stalled for time to recover his strength. The chapter ended with Xiao Hua sensing a hidden threat while Qin Jian calmly waited for him to finish.

• Xiao Hua stayed behind to draw Qin Jian away while Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao led the fleeing cultivators onward.
• Xiao Hua revealed his identity as the Terrifying Phoenix and lured Qin Jian into pursuing him instead of the disciples.
• Qin Jian praised Xiao Hua and admitted that he wanted to fight him after learning Xiao Hua had killed Ling Yunwu and others.
• Xiao Hua swallowed pills and meditated to restore his strength, while Qin Jian surprisingly waited without attacking.
• Xiao Hua suspected Qin Jian might be using Gu Yu's Invisible Sword, but sensed a sharp danger nearby as Qin Jian continued to wait.

Xiao Hua saw through Qin Jian’s Formless Golden Thread Sword, stole it with Sleeve Universe, and faced Qin Jian’s wolf-shaped Sword Intent with the Sea-Overturning Seal. The wolf head was smashed apart, but Qin Jian reignited the scattered sword lights and formed another fierce wolf.

• Xiao Hua detected the slowly advancing Formless Golden Thread Sword while pretending to recover, and Qin Jian kept stopping it whenever Xiao Hua moved.
• Xiao Hua used Sleeve Universe to seize the invisible sword and cut off Qin Jian’s connection to it.
• Enraged, Qin Jian attacked with a wolf-shaped Sword Intent that stirred the slaughter within Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua summoned the Sea-Overturning Seal, which crushed the wolf head and drove Qin Jian’s sword lights back.
• Qin Jian urged the scattered sword lights to reignite and gather into a new wolf beside Xiao Hua’s yellow dragon.

Xiao Hua fought Qin Jian while the Spirit Binding Juice drove him into a reckless bloodlust, and Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao realized Qin Jian had lured him into a scheme. As the battle neared its climax, Xiao Hua drew True Person Mingjian's flying sword and felt its coolness begin to calm him.

• Xiao Hua repeatedly struck Qin Jian's Giant Wolf Sword Intent with the Sea-Overturning Seal, while Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao watched in shock at his power.
• Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao suspected Qin Jian was exploiting Xiao Hua's condition and tried to warn him, but Xiao Hua ignored them.
• Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao rushed into the chaotic battlefield with their magical treasures, were blasted away, and suffered heavy injuries.
• Xiao Hua recognized that Qin Jian had stirred his uncontrolled bloodlust and suspected the Spirit Binding Juice's aftereffects were responsible.
• As Qin Jian's Giant Wolf renewed its attack, Xiao Hua recalled True Person Mingjian's Little Deer Sword Intent and summoned his flying sword, whose coolness flowed into his heart.

Xiao Hua recovered control of his body and faced Qin Jian, whose sword intent, paired flying swords, and Four Symbols Sword Array tested Xiao Hua’s many hidden abilities. The chapter left Xiao Hua studying the array’s mechanics as Qin Jian sent two streams of sword light toward him.

• Xiao Hua resisted Qin Jian’s Giant Wolf attack and revealed a tranquil deer’s sword intent, which dispelled the wolf’s slaughterous intent before vanishing back into the sword.
• Qin Jian launched paired flying swords at Xiao Hua, who answered with Dreamslayer; Qin Jian’s swords knocked it aside, but Xiao Hua then struck them with a demon staff.
• Qin Jian trapped Xiao Hua inside the Four Symbols Sword Array, whose rotating force confined and crushed him, but Xiao Hua’s fleshly body endured it.
• Qin Jian sent two streams of sword light through the array toward Xiao Hua’s shoulders, and Xiao Hua wondered why only two streams appeared despite the four flying swords.

Xiao Hua broke Qin Jian’s Four Symbols Sword Array and trapped him in the Seven Star Sword Array, then used Zhūmèng to exploit Qin Jian’s weakness to karmic power. Qin Jian resisted the sword strikes by transforming into a sword, but each blow damaged his sword heart and made that transformation harder.

• Xiao Hua shattered Qin Jian’s conjured flying sword after spotting its delay, causing the Four Symbols Sword Array to collapse.
• Xiao Hua released seven flying swords from the Sword Pouch and trapped Qin Jian in the Seven Star Sword Array.
• Qin Jian synchronized his sword light with the array and dismissed Xiao Hua’s sword cultivation as inadequate.
• Xiao Hua sent Zhūmèng into the array, where it multiplied into sixty-four sword lights and pierced Qin Jian.
• Qin Jian recognized that Xiao Hua had slain Tu Hong and transformed into a sword to withstand the attacks.
• Xiao Hua kept striking Qin Jian with Zhūmèng, whose metal energy and karmic power damaged Qin Jian’s sword heart and weakened his ability to transform.

Xiao Hua survived Qin Jian’s soul sword when Little White Dragon devoured it, then defeated Qin Jian’s giant sword with spirit fire and Innate True Water. Qin Jian self-destructed, leaving Xiao Hua exhausted but alive at Flowing Ice Valley, where nearby swordsmen feared his power.

• Qin Jian used a secret technique to unleash a soul sword that pierced Xiao Hua’s mind and destroyed his soul artifact.
• Little White Dragon emerged from Xiao Hua’s dark clouds and swallowed the soul sword, leaving Qin Jian badly wounded.
• Qin Jian solidified his Sword Transformation phantom and pressed Xiao Hua down with immense pressure, but Xiao Hua blocked the giant sword with spirit fire and the As-You-Wish Staff.
• Xiao Hua trapped Qin Jian’s giant sword in Innate True Water, but Qin Jian self-destructed and blasted apart the water curtain.
• Xiao Hua collected one sword fragment, landed at the foot of a mountain, and practiced the Big Dipper Divine Fist as nearby swordsmen watched in fear.

After Qin Jian’s self-destruction, Xiao Hua, Xiao Mao, and Li Zongbao recovered proof of his death and gathered his scattered remains and possessions. They then searched for Zhuo Hui and Xu Bo, finding their bodies by the river as Li Zongbao prepared to handle the cleanup.

• Xiao Hua finished practicing the Big Dipper Divine Fist while Xiao Mao and Li Zongbao searched for Qin Jian’s remains.
• Xiao Mao returned with Qin Jian’s sword token, and Li Zongbao found half of Qin Jian’s head and many other remains.
• Li Zongbao gave Xiao Hua Qin Jian’s scattered belongings, and Xiao Hua kept an intact ancient triangular object.
• Li Zongbao explained that he needed to recover Zhuo Hui’s remains, so Xiao Hua led him and Xiao Mao to the site where Zhuo Hui and Xu Bo had died.
• Xiao Hua found Zhuo Hui’s and Xu Bo’s bodies hanging on stone spikes beside the river, along with their storage pouches.
• Li Zongbao agreed that he and Xiao Mao would handle the cleanup of the two corpses and the many others nearby.