Chapter Summaries

Xue Chong tried to escape the Wind Annihilation Formation through a flag gate, but Li Jijie’s hidden strike killed him and the Mingyang Sword Sect disciples were wiped out. As Lu Ruochang and the surviving sword cultivators waited in vain, they discussed how to break the Ten Directions Annihilation Great Formation.

• Xue Chong used the explosion of his enormous sword to propel himself toward the flag gate, killing many Mingyang Sword Sect swordsmen in the hurricane.
• Li Jijie sent a crimson-yellow wind blade after Xue Chong, but Xue Chong broke it with his life-bound little sword and reached the flag gate.
• A combined strike from more than a hundred late Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Changbai Sect blasted Xue Chong apart before he could escape.
• Lu Ruochang, Mu Ting, and Cang Yuan waited for Xue Chong and the Mingyang Sword Sect disciples, though they feared none had survived.
• Lu Ruochang asked the surviving swordsmen to consider how to break the great formation, and Cang Yuan suggested attacking one point while Ruoling warned that the formation’s combined defense could overwhelm them.

The trapped sword cultivators realized the Ten Directions Annihilation Great Formation was closing around them and feared its combined power would make escape impossible. With no clear weaknesses or safe formations to choose from, Lu Ruochang and the others considered entering the untested final formation, whose nature remained unknown.

• Qu Jianchong noticed the red radiance around the banner gates moving closer, and Zhu Chengye realized the gates would close and eliminate the apparent flaws.
• Lu Ruochang warned that the merged formations could draw on several hundred thousand Dao Sect cultivators and become deadly even to Sword Transformation elders.
• Lu Ruochang sent Illusion Sword swordsmen and Bright Sword disciples to search the surrounding formation while the leaders shared accounts of the formations they had faced.
• The swordsmen concluded that the known formations were all dangerous and ruled out formations they had already entered, as well as the Soul and Fire Annihilation Formations.
• Lu Ruochang and the others settled on the unentered final formation as their likely choice, but they did not know whether it was based on water, wood, or something else.

Lu Ruochang delayed the Sword Domain’s assault while searching for a weakness in the Dao Sect’s final formation, then led more than a hundred thousand swordsmen toward the Water Annihilation Formation. Just before entering, she realized the Golden Annihilation Array might be strained by its abundant Metal-element spiritual qi and lack powerful reinforcements.

• Cang Yuan and Lu Ruochang debated whether the final formation could contain a lightning-element weakness, while Qu Jianchong dismissed the threat of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Ruoling explained why heavenly lightning could not arise in the Sword Tomb, and the swordsmen learned that the Dao Sect could combine the power of hundreds of thousands of cultivators within a formation.
• Lu Ruochang waited for scouts to search the sealed formation, but they found no weakness and reported that its ground and sky were also blocked by restrictions.
• Ruoling and Mu Ting urged Lu Ruochang to attack before the Dao Sect mastered the formation, and Lu Ruochang ordered the Sword Domain forces to charge into the Water Annihilation Formation.
• As Lu Ruochang reached the banner gate, she realized the Golden Annihilation Array’s abundant Metal-element spiritual qi would impose a heavy backlash on its controllers, who appeared to lack senior reinforcements.

Lu Ruochang led hundreds of thousands of sword cultivators back into the Golden Annihilation Array, planning to attack it together and absorb its stored sword intent despite the danger. As the sword cultivators unleashed their formations and transformed into giant swords, Ji Mo and the other Dao Sect commanders rushed to respond.

• Lu Ruochang abandoned her approach to the Water Annihilation Formation and ordered the sword cultivators to charge into the Golden Annihilation Array.
• Lu Ruochang explained her plan to disrupt the formation’s balance, and persuaded Qu Jianchong, Ruoling, and the other Illusion Sword Swordsmen to follow her.
• Lu Ruochang proposed absorbing the sword intent drawn from the Sword Mound, warning that some cultivators might die in the attempt.
• Hundreds of thousands of sword cultivators entered the Golden Annihilation Array and gathered in sect formations as the Ten Directions Annihilation Great Formation continued closing.
• Ji Mo, Ji Hong, Zhou Qingping, and Zhu Junwei were caught off guard when Lu Ruochang’s forces returned and launched their attack.
• Lu Ruochang and the other Illusion Sword Swordsmen transformed into giant swords, while hundreds of thousands of flying swords cried out together and forced Ji Mo and the others to raise their banners.

Ji Mo and the Dao Sect cultivators fought to activate the Golden Annihilation Array while Lu Ruochang and the swordsmen attacked its array foundation. The bone-eroding golden light finally spread through the array, melting sword radiance and bringing down hundreds of Womb Sword Disciples.

• Ji Mo and the others used their banners to break apart the illusions of the Golden Annihilation Array, but Lu Ruochang and the giant swords attacked and helped restore Sword Mountain and Sword Water.
• Over a hundred thousand swordsmen launched flying swords at Sword Mountain, but Xiong Huasong and Heng Ming revealed themselves and used the array's Broken Swords to resist them.
• Xiong Huasong urged Ji Mo to activate the array's golden light, then redirected attacks toward Lu Ruochang and the giant swords when they threatened the array foundation.
• The giant swords forced Ji Mo and the others back, but Xiong Huasong and the other cultivators struck them with a massive rain of swords, making Lu Ruochang and her companions retreat.
• Four golden lights exploded into crystalline fragments, and the bone-eroding golden light spread through the array, corroding sword energy and causing hundreds of Womb Sword Disciples to fall in agony.

The swordsmen's desperate counterattack overloaded the Golden Annihilation Array and destroyed its restrictions, though it exhausted their sword radiance. Xiong Huasong then ordered Ji Mo to mobilize the Dao Sect disciples, leaving the battle poised to continue outside the formation.

• Golden light corroded Cang Yuan's giant ape body and threatened Qu Jianchong and the weaker Illusion Sword swordsmen.
• Lu Ruochang and more than a dozen sword-transformed swordsmen joined the hundred thousand swordsmen in unleashing a massive surge of sword qi.
• Ji Mo and the other formation controllers drew spiritual qi and sword intent into the Golden Annihilation Array, while Xiong Huasong warned them not to overload it.
• The swordsmen formed a powerful vortex that pulled Golden Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and Broken Swords into the formation, overwhelming its capacity.
• Xiong Huasong tried to reinforce the collapsing restrictions with formation flags, but the Golden Annihilation Array broke apart.
• Xiong Huasong ordered Ji Mo to mobilize all the Dao Sect disciples, and Ji Mo immediately waved his banner.

Xiong Huasong’s intensified bone-eroding golden light helped the Daoist cultivators destroy the Ten Directions Annihilation Great Formation, but it devastated Lu Ruochang’s escaping sword cultivators. Heng Ming chose to withdraw rather than pursue, while Lu Ruochang fled in agony, grieving the losses and recalling Qian Mo’s sacrifice.

• Xiong Huasong drove the collapsing Golden Annihilation Array’s golden light into the charging sword cultivators, killing Cang Yuan and many others as the formation fell.
• The nine meteors extinguished the great formation, and Heng Ming asked Xiong Huasong whether the Daoist cultivators should pursue the survivors.
• Heng Ming decided to withdraw, judging that the Daoist forces had already won a major victory and might suffer losses if they chased the wounded swordsmen.
• Lu Ruochang mourned the destruction of her forces and remembered Qian Mo’s self-detonation as she and the survivors fled.
• Ruoling warned Lu Ruochang to stay alert for pursuit, while their wounds from the bone-eroding golden light caused them intense pain.

Lu Ruochang and the fleeing sword cultivators believed the Dao Sect would not pursue them, but Hengming, Ji Hong, and Xiong Huasong ordered a chase into the Sword Tomb. The Dao Sect forces set out to hunt Lu Ruochang and the battered sword cultivators despite Dexun’s warning.

• Zhu Chengye spotted Dao Sect cultivators pursuing the fleeing sword cultivators, startling Lu Ruochang and Ruoling.
• Ji Hong demanded that Hengming pursue the sword cultivators so she could avenge Qianmo by killing Lu Ruochang.
• Hengming agreed to the pursuit, and Xiong Huasong ordered the Dao Sect disciples to advance into the Sword Tomb.
• Xiong Huasong joined the pursuit after Ji Hong challenged his resolve.
• Dexun warned Hengming not to pursue a cornered enemy, but Hengming defended the decision and Dexun sent his disciples after the sword cultivators.

Lu Ruochang sent the fleeing swordsmen toward the Four Directions Sword Array as the Dao cultivators pursued, while Xiao Hua remained trapped in the Fan Jin Great Formation and reflected on his cultivation. After realizing the Nascent Soul Sword Riding Technique could strengthen his Primordial Spirit and worrying about his ten Primordial Spirits, he tried to use Metal Evasion to escape Yu Tong’s attacks but repeatedly struck a silver wall.

• Lu Ruochang sent a flying sword ahead, then directed the routed swordsmen toward the Four Directions Sword Array as the pursuing Dao cultivators followed.
• Xiao Hua reflected on the grades of Metal Evasion and his other escape techniques while trapped in the Fan Jin Great Formation.
• Xiao Hua found that the Nascent Soul Sword Riding Technique could strengthen his Primordial Spirit and worried that his ten Primordial Spirits might eventually compete for control.
• Xiao Hua sensed Yu Tong attacking the formation, collected talismans, and used the Pure Water Vase to absorb the Innate True Water.
• Xiao Hua tried to escape through a silver wall with Metal Evasion, but he failed and repeatedly hit the wall.

Yu Tong worked to fuse the crimson and azure Yin Yang Sword Gourds, exhausting his strength before a final secret technique brought them together. Their fusion then unexpectedly became easier, and Yu Tong began refining them further, convinced that he was close to creating the embryonic form of the Spirit Severing Primordial Light.

• Yu Tong used his silver tiger Dharma Body and hand seals to weaken the Sword Gourds’ crimson and azure radiance.
• Yu Tong synchronized the Sword Gourds, fed them his blood essence, and forced them together with silver light and the nine green seal-script lights from his forehead.
• The Sword Gourds touched and sent a sword radiance through the canopy, while Yu Tong’s Dharma Body returned to his body from exhaustion.
• Yu Tong recovered with a spirit pill and discovered that a further fusion of the Sword Gourds proceeded more easily than he expected.
• Yu Tong rejoiced at his apparent success and continued striking profound seals as the Sword Gourds merged into one.

Yu Tong used the Spirit Severing Primordial Light to pierce the Fan Jin Great Formation and confronted Xiao Hua, who was trapped inside his defensive array. Yu Tong opened a path out but continued taunting Xiao Hua, who tried to bargain for the gourd as a parting gift.

• Yu Tong refined the sword gourd into the silver-white Spirit Severing Primordial Light and used it to pierce the Fan Jin Great Formation.
• Yu Tong found Xiao Hua repeatedly ramming the formation walls while practicing his Metal Evasion technique, and Xiao Hua hurriedly set up the Duotian Star Array and released Innate True Water.
• Yu Tong mocked Xiao Hua and opened a succession of doorways through the formation with his True Tiger Dharma Body.
• Xiao Hua refused to leave when Yu Tong offered him a way out, then asked about the silver-white gourd.
• Yu Tong identified the gourd as Spirit Severing Primordial Light but withheld its origin, and Xiao Hua asked him to hand it over as a parting gift.

Xiao Hua battled Yu Tong, whose Yin Yang Sword Spirit nearly struck him down, and refused Yu Tong’s offer to cooperate. The fight continued as Xiao Hua trapped the sword lights and attacked Yu Tong, whose True Tiger Dharma Body countered with silver radiance.

• Yu Tong launched the Yin Yang Sword Spirit at Xiao Hua, and Xiao Hua blocked it with Zhu Meng and Mountain Splitting using the Flying Sword Shadow Transformation Technique.
• Yu Tong questioned Xiao Hua’s abilities and offered to work with him, but Xiao Hua rejected the offer and challenged him.
• Xiao Hua expanded his flying swords into 128 sword lights and temporarily trapped Yu Tong’s Yin Yang Sword Spirit.
• Xiao Hua struck at Yu Tong with Innate True Water, but Yu Tong’s True Tiger Dharma Body shattered the attack with silver radiance.
• Xiao Hua formed the Innate True Water into a curtain and sent it down over Yu Tong.

Xiao Hua fought Yu Tong while trying to seize the Yin Yang Sword Gourds, only to discover the gourds responded to his earlier hidden refinement. The chapter left Xiao Hua trapped beneath Yu Tong’s overwhelming pressure as the damaged Nascent Soul talisman failed and the gourds were slipping from his control.

• Yu Tong challenged Xiao Hua to submit, then summoned a spiritual-qi spear and split it into four, but Xiao Hua smashed the spears with the As-You-Wish Staff.
• Yu Tong detonated three spears, sending Xiao Hua toward the Yin Yang Sword Gourds, and Xiao Hua used Sleeve Universe to sever Yu Tong’s connection to them.
• The gourds pierced Xiao Hua’s hand with azure-red light, but his Lingyi Scarlet Fire made the light withdraw, and his blood revealed that his earlier refinement of the gourds had taken effect.
• Xiao Hua began refining the gourds again as Yu Tong rushed forward and pressed him down with his late Golden Core cultivation.
• Xiao Hua brought out the damaged Nascent Soul hand talisman, but Yu Tong’s divine sense cut off its spiritual-qi supply and confined Xiao Hua, leaving him unable to use his powers as the gourds began slipping away.

While Yu Tong suppressed him inside the Fan Jin Great Formation, Xiao Hua unexpectedly began condensing his core and unleashed overwhelming pressure and divine sense. Yu Tong escaped with Metal Evasion, while strange crystals continued to grow amid the celestial signs of Xiao Hua’s advancement.

• Pinned down by Yu Tong’s pressure and divine sense, Xiao Hua’s abilities and meridians fell completely still.
• A fluctuation arose between Xiao Hua’s thunder cores, drawing his true essence into a pale-purple point in his lower dantian and beginning core condensation.
• Xiao Hua’s pressure and divine sense surged, overpowering Yu Tong’s and extending beyond the Fan Jin Great Formation into the Sword Graveyard.
• Yu Tong recognized the immense force of confinement, abandoned the Fan Jin Great Formation, and fled using Metal Evasion.
• Xiao Hua sent Innate True Water after Yu Tong but could not find him, while Yu Tong watched hurricanes and growing silvery-white crystals form around the area of Xiao Hua’s advancement.

As Xiao Hua began a powerful breakthrough in the Sword Tomb, he suffered sudden pain in his lower dantian and could not pursue the fleeing Yu Tong. Meanwhile, Lu Ruochang led the Sword Region swordsmen toward their hidden formations, preparing to trap and destroy the pursuing Dao Sect cultivators.

• Silver-white crystals and golden lightning appeared around Xiao Hua, leading Yu Tong to realize Feng Ying was a demon beast in human form undergoing Nascent Soul Incubation and flee.
• Xiao Hua tried to pursue Yu Tong but was stopped by tearing pain in his lower dantian, and his internal discovery left him unable to act.
• Lu Ruochang declared that the Sword Region’s victory had arrived and assured Ruoling that the Great Four Directions Sword Array could ensnare the Dao Sect army.
• Lu Ruochang met the mysterious Swordsman Ye, who received permission to act under their prior agreement.
• Qing Feng confirmed that he had prepared the Spirit Devouring Great Formation, while Bai Tianming and Xiu Jie also reported that their sword arrays were ready.

Lu Ruochang gathered the Sword Region swordsmen at Dragon Slaying Slope and reminded them of the Flying Dragon Sword Gate’s sacrifice there. She revealed that the pursuing Daoist cultivators had entered the Great Four Directions Sword Array, and the story left the two sides poised for battle.

• Lu Ruochang sent the sword sect leaders and their disciples to assemble on a flower-covered hill five li away.
• Lu Ruochang told the assembled swordsmen about the unnamed sect that had sacrificed itself to protect the Sword Region’s sword array, and Ruoling identified it as the Flying Dragon Sword Gate.
• Ruoling explained that the Flying Dragon Sword Gate had died defending the array at Dragon Slaying Slope, then was swallowed up by other sword sects afterward.
• Lu Ruochang urged the swordsmen to remember the fallen and revealed that the pursuing Daoist cultivators had entered the Great Four Directions Sword Array.
• Lu Ruochang described the array’s Yin Yang Sword Array, Rending Blade Five Elements Sword Array, Spirit Devouring Great Formation, and unnamed outer formation.

Lu Ruochang sent the sword sect disciples to join three Great Four Directions Sword Arrays, then used her phoenix sword to draw the pursuing Dao cultivators’ attention. Heng Ming and the others approached the signal while Li Zongbao went to investigate the rear, leaving the cultivators uncertain whether an ambush awaited them.

• Lu Ruochang rallied the swordsmen and gave Ruoling, Mu Ting, Zhu Chengye, and the other leaders sword slips directing their sects to the arrays.
• After the disciples departed, Lu Ruochang reflected on the hatred and courage of the sword tombs, then flew away from Dragon Slaying Slope as the pursuers neared.
• Lu Ruochang sent her Qing Bi flying sword into the sky, where it transformed into a huge, loudly crying phoenix that drew the Dao cultivators’ attention.
• Heng Ming started to order a retreat, then flew toward the phoenix, while Li Zongbao went to scout the rear and ordered thirty percent of the disciples to hold their position.
• Dexun warned Heng Ming that the fleeing swordsmen had vanished, but Ji Hong and Wang Ye dismissed the possibility that the phoenix signal meant an ambush.

Heng Ming and the Dao Sect cultivators discovered that the swordsmen had lured them into a massive sword formation near Dragon Slaying Slope. As the formation rose around them, Heng Ming ordered the hundreds of thousands of cultivators to form up and prepare to break out.

• Xiong Huasong and Heng Ming dismissed the possibility of a hidden sword formation and ordered the Dao Sect cultivators to advance toward Dragon Slaying Slope.
• The enormous phoenix erupted into azure-green sword lights, briefly revealing the gathered Dao Sect forces before darkness returned.
• The earth began to rumble, and Gao Wei warned that the cultivators had fallen into an ambush; Heng Ming ordered them to form their usual defensive formation.
• Heng Ming, Ji Hong, and the other Golden Core cultivators realized the swordsmen had prepared the ambush in advance and discussed why the pursuit had led them into it.
• Li Zongbao reported that an azure-and-crimson sword formation had divided the pursuing force and blocked his escape, so Heng Ming ordered the cultivators to arrange themselves for a breakout.
• Azure and crimson sword lights erupted from the ground and formed a vast ring around the hundreds of thousands of Dao Sect cultivators.

Yang Jiuding and Xiu Jie emerged from hidden sword arrays at Dragon Slaying Slope and fought the Changbai Sect cultivators. Their coordinated sword attacks killed one Golden Core disciple, leaving Li Jijie furious and the surrounding Daoist cultivators shaken.

• Heng Ming ordered the disciples to retreat as tremors spread beneath Dragon Slaying Slope, but two sword pillars burst from the ground.
• Yang Jiuding of the Taihe Sword Sect and Xiu Jie of the Kun Sword Sect emerged and challenged the gathered cultivators.
• Four Changbai Sect Golden Core disciples attacked Yang Jiuding and Xiu Jie with coordinated flying swords, but the sword pair destroyed their weapons and counterattacked.
• An old artifact cultivator struck Li Jijie's flying sword aside while the four disciples defended themselves with linked shields.
• Xiu Jie and Yang Jiuding's sword rays pierced the defenses and killed one Golden Core disciple before evading Li Jijie's renewed attack.

Heng Ming and the Daoist cultivators discovered that Lu Ruochang had spent more than eight years preparing the Yin Yang Sword Array to trap them in Sword Tomb. The array launched a massive attack, leaving the trapped cultivators fighting back as the battle began.

• Li Jijie prepared to charge at the sword cultivators, but Heng Ming stopped him and warned him not to disrupt their formation.
• Meng Changshou and Li Ying identified themselves and revealed that Lu Ruochang had ordered them to guard the Yin Yang Sword Array.
• Li Ying said the sword array had taken more than eight years to prepare, while Xiong Huasong revealed that the Daoist sects had set up their Ten Directions Annihilation Great Formation only a few months earlier.
• Heng Ming and the others realized that Lu Ruochang had lured them into an ambush and that their own greed had helped bring them there.
• Li Ying activated the Yin Yang Sword Array, sending cyan and red sword lights from the pillars and ground toward the trapped cultivators.
• Heng Ming ordered the disciples to attack, and the Daoist cultivators unleashed their magic treasures against the incoming sword lights.