Chapter Summaries

Liang Mingfu self-detonated to escape the Spirit Devouring Insects, killing many nearby disciples, while Lu Ruochang’s sword formation and the insects devastated the Daoist forces. Hengming realized the Four Directions Sword Array was designed to leave no survivors as Ye Yu appeared from the encircling mist.

• Liang Mingfu’s Nascent Soul hand collapsed under the Spirit Devouring Insects, and he self-detonated to blast them away, killing most nearby Foundation Establishment disciples.
• Li Zongbao, Fairy Hongxia, and Xiao Mao escaped serious harm, but the sword cultivators hidden in the Spirit Devouring Great Formation attacked the scattered Daoist forces.
• Spirit Devouring Insects continued killing Golden Core cultivators, while Huoping and Huang Feng struggled to keep the insects at bay.
• Hengming saw that dense, ghostly mist had trapped the fleeing disciples and realized Lu Ruochang’s Four Directions Sword Array was meant to kill every Daoist cultivator.
• Ye Yu appeared atop a giant gecko insect within the mist as Hengming lost hope of surviving.

As Heng Ming and the trapped Dao Sect cultivators faced annihilation, a mysterious cultivator’s breakthrough unleashed a force that immobilized the battlefield and drew the Spirit Devouring Insects away. Lu Ruochang’s plans began to collapse as strange spiritual crystals formed and heavenly thunder appeared over the Sword Tomb.

• Heng Ming gave up resisting as a Spirit Devouring Insect breached his protection, while Li Zongbao and the others fought on.
• A powerful confinement swept through the Four Directions Sword Array, revealing that someone was undergoing an extraordinary breakthrough, and Heng Ming and the other Council Hall Golden Core cultivators used Nascent Soul hands to attack the immobilized insects.
• Fan Zuiyuan detonated his pagoda, breaking the confinement inside the formation and allowing the Spirit Devouring Insects to attack the Nascent Soul hands again.
• Silver-white crystals formed amid enormous spiritual vortices, drawing the Spirit Devouring Insects away from the Dao Sect cultivators and disrupting the Spirit Devouring Great Formation.
• Lu Ruochang ordered the swordsmen to find and kill the cultivator behind the breakthrough, but heavenly thunder and its killing aura struck her down and left her despairing.

Xiao Hua’s core formation began to tear his dantian apart because his eighteenth layer of Qi Cultivation made the yin and yang forces dangerously unbalanced. As the calamity worsened, he realized he might need to invent a cultivation technique to temper the missing Meridian.

• Heavenly thunder weakened Ye Yu’s wronged souls and Soul Annihilation Formation, forcing Ye Yu to withdraw and giving Heng Ming and the others a chance to fight back.
• Xiao Hua felt fierce pain as a pale violet point formed between his two Lightning Cores and drew power unevenly through his Meridians.
• He realized the suction forces differed because he had cultivated the eighteenth layer of Qi Cultivation, making a balanced Golden Core impossible and threatening his life.
• Xiao Hua recalled the Meridians he had seen while dual cultivating with Fairy Hongxia and considered creating another Meridian to restore balance.
• Unable to find a suitable method for tempering that Meridian, Xiao Hua faced the growing force tearing at his dantian and resolved to create a cultivation technique himself.

With his dantian close to being torn apart by unbalanced yin and yang suction, Xiao Hua improvised a Foundation Establishment cultivation technique to open new meridians and restore balance. He reached the ideal moment for Core Formation, but a renewed surge of sword qi and spiritual qi struck his body just as he prepared to take Qianli Pills.

• Xiao Hua decided to create a cultivation technique by adapting chants he knew and using his knowledge of his meridians.
• He drew Golden Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and sword qi into his body, testing and revising chants until he opened new meridians and eased the dantian's imbalance.
• Golden heavenly lightning and Xiao Hua's enormous vortex disturbed the sword tomb, drawing its spiritual qi and sword qi toward him.
• After several days, Xiao Hua completed his technique, which he believed was the first Foundation Establishment technique of his Creation Sect, and stabilized the yin and yang suction forces.
• Xiao Hua reached the Core Formation opportunity and took out Qianli Pills, but a thick surge of sword qi and Golden Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi entered his body and made him tremble.

Xiao Hua was overwhelmed by the Sword Tomb’s incoming sword qi and spiritual energy, but used them to cultivate true essence and sword essence as a lightning tribulation gathered around him. His cultivation and the surrounding phenomenon continued to escalate, while he remained trapped and unable to stop the influx.

• Xiao Hua failed to close the Fan Jin Great Formation and briefly used the Yin Yang Sword Gourds to absorb the incoming energy before they filled up.
• Xiao Hua activated the Dragon Transformation Art and Celestial Body Infusion Technique, drawing in spiritual energy and triggering a lightning tribulation.
• Xiao Hua transformed the incoming sword qi into sword essence and cultivated Zhu Meng and Mountain Splitting with sword arts.
• The Sword Tomb’s expanding hurricane and blooming purple gardenias alarmed those outside, while Lu Ruochang and the trapped cultivators remained locked in a stalemate.
• After several days, Xiao Hua’s sword essence reached the level of Illusion Sword, but he still lacked sword intent and could not stop the energy pouring into him.
• Xiao Hua feared he would die in the Sword Tomb and reflected that he, too, might leave a name there as a sword that would rather break than bend.

While forming his Golden Core under the lightning tribulation, Xiao Hua comprehended sword intent and created a growing Heart Sword from Dream Slayer and Mountain Splitting. He used its sword qi to repair his seven Sword Pellets, then noticed the damaged Small Pouch remained unchanged.

• Xiao Hua realized that true sword intent came from the sword itself and formed a Heart Sword by merging Dream Slayer, Mountain Splitting, and his sword essence.
• The Heart Sword’s growth pushed toward sword transformation, but the celestial phenomenon and Xiao Hua’s limited foundation prevented him from escaping its restraints.
• Xiao Hua brought out True Person Mingjian’s flying sword, but Tianlu’s white tiger sword intent challenged the Heart Sword, so he put the sword away.
• Xiao Hua fed his seven damaged Sword Pellets into the Heart Sword’s sword intent, which repaired them one by one in less than a day.
• After withdrawing the repaired Sword Pellets, Xiao Hua noticed that the damaged Small Pouch within the Buddhist fire had not changed.

Xiao Hua used the Small Pouch to absorb the Sword Tomb’s spiritual energy and began condensing a golden core, only for a lightning tribulation to descend. Little White urged Xiao Hua to send him and a wisp of Xiao Hua’s Primordial Spirit into the tribulation, claiming the danger could unlock the path to an External Incarnation.

• Xiao Hua discovered that the Small Pouch absorbed all the incoming sword qi, sword intent, and Golden Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, but the heavenly lightning’s confinement prevented him from escaping.
• Xiao Hua swallowed Qianli Pills and refined the incoming crystals until his true essence formed a needle-shaped sphere and began condensing into a golden core.
• Xiao Hua continued taking pills as his core grew to fist size, while the lightning cores in his dantian fed it and the spiritual energy kept pouring in.
• Thunder crashed down, and Xiao Hua cautiously extended his divine sense before recognizing that Little White was calling to him through the mysterious dark clouds.
• Little White asked Xiao Hua to send him out to face the lightning tribulation and urged him to send a wisp of his Primordial Spirit as well, saying the ordeal could help create an External Incarnation.

Xiao Hua and Little White Dragon faced a golden lightning tribulation while Xiao Hua’s Golden Core was still unfinished. The lightning tore through their bodies and spiritual forms, but also reshaped them and began rebuilding Xiao Hua’s lost Primordial Spirit; the chapter ended as a new black-and-white Primordial Spirit appeared under the lightning’s assault.

• Xiao Hua sent Little White Dragon out of the Dharma Eye’s soul mark, then released his divided Primordial Spirits, soul threads, and Buddha Sarira in hopes of gaining from the tribulation.
• Little White Dragon recognized the Small Pouch and circled it as dark red storm clouds and golden lightning gathered over the Fan Jin Great Formation.
• Xiao Hua realized the tribulation had begun before his Golden Core was complete and swallowed all his remaining Qianli Pills as the lightning immobilized him.
• Golden lightning destroyed the Fan Jin Great Formation and struck Xiao Hua, Little White Dragon, the Buddha Sarira, and the Heart Sword, shattering and then rebuilding them amid the pain.
• The lightning destroyed Xiao Hua’s Primordial Spirits and soul threads, but a mysterious fluctuation passed through the Dharma Eye’s soul mark and storm clouds before returning to form a new black-and-white Primordial Spirit.

Xiao Hua endured the third bolt of the Three Golden Lightning Tribulation as the Small Pouch absorbed spiritual qi, sword qi, and sword intent, destabilizing the Sword Tomb. The chapter left Xiao Hua’s Golden Core transformed and the Sword Tomb collapsing, while Lu Ruochang prepared to resume the battle once the heavenly phenomenon ended.

• The Small Pouch absorbed the Sword Tomb’s spiritual qi, sword qi, and fragmented sword intent, while its repairs released pure Golden spiritual qi into Xiao Hua and strengthened his body and dantian.
• A second bolt of heavenly lightning struck Xiao Hua, worsening his injuries as the Small Pouch continued drawing in the forces around him.
• The Spirit Devouring Insects became uncontrollable, and Lu Ruochang’s forces abandoned their formations and waited for the heavenly phenomenon to end.
• The Small Pouch’s absorption spread through the Sword Tomb, collapsing formations and sweeping purple flowers and other remnants toward its center as cultivators and swordsmen fled.
• Lu Ruochang rejected Ruoling’s resignation and ordered the swordsmen to prepare to attack the cultivators after the phenomenon passed.
• Xiao Hua endured a third lightning bolt, and the Small Pouch absorbed the wronged souls as his Heart Sword grew more solid and his Golden Core transformed into a central core surrounded by silver particles and enlarged Lightning Cores.

After Xiao Hua survived the third Three Golden Lightning Tribulation, he discovered that the Sword Tomb had vanished and that his golden core had changed his abilities. He realized Huanhua Sect disciples were under attack and rushed toward them, leaving the Small Pouch’s fate unresolved.

• Little White Dragon roared after the tribulation, asked Xiao Hua to send him away to cultivate in seclusion, and Xiao Hua returned him to Qi Heaven.
• Xiao Hua examined his newly formed golden core, found that his Lightning Drawing Technique no longer worked, and tested his increased strength by casting a fireball.
• Xiao Hua captured a group of Spirit Devouring Insects and discovered that the Small Pouch had absorbed the Sword Tomb, leaving the area clear beneath the midday sun.
• Xiao Hua sensed Dao Sect disciples fleeing and realized a war had taken place, then prepared to find his wife and collected his formation, treasures, and the Buddha Sarira.
• Xiao Hua saw Huanhua Sect disciples being pursued by sword cultivators and used Thunder Control Movement to rush toward the still-absorbing Small Pouch.

Xiao Hua took the Small Pouch and rushed to save the besieged Dao cultivators, disguising himself as the Nascent Soul cultivator Nameless. His arrival halted the sword cultivators’ advance, and he learned that Qian Mo had died before reaching the Sword Mound.

• Xiao Hua took the Small Pouch, discovered his Lightning Evasion Technique had advanced, and hurried toward the battle after learning Fairy Hongxia, Li Zongbao, and Xiao Mao were in danger.
• Lu Ruochang led the sword cultivators against Heng Ming’s exhausted Dao cultivators, while Fairy Hongxia, Xiao Mao, and Li Zongbao struggled to survive.
• Lu Ruochang mocked Heng Ming’s hope for a Nascent Soul elder as the Dao cultivators suffered heavy losses and the three companions faced several sword cultivators.
• Xiao Hua arrived disguised as Nameless, and the sword cultivators recoiled when his Nascent Soul pressure swept across the battlefield.
• Heng Ming and the surviving Golden Core cultivators paid respects to Nameless, who asked about the losses and learned from Yuan Zhongyu that Qian Mo had sacrificed himself to foil Lu Ruochang’s trap.

Xiao Hua, disguised as Senior Nameless, confronted Lu Ruochang after learning she had trapped the Dao Sect forces in the Sword Tomb. He tried to force her to release the Dao Sect disciples without escalating the war, but Lu Ruochang refused, and Xiao Hua began forming a Nascent Soul hand as Ruoling pleaded with him to stop.

• Heng Ming told Xiao Hua that Lu Ruochang had used several formations to ambush the Dao Sect disciples, and thanked him for saving them when his Nascent Soul breakthrough disrupted the Sword Cultivators’ battle formation.
• Lu Ruochang and the other Illusion Sword Swordsmen saluted Xiao Hua, then warned him that Sword Transformation elders could retaliate if he interfered in the war.
• Xiao Hua argued that both sides had suffered heavy losses and urged the Sword Cultivators to stop, but Lu Ruochang said she could not decide whether the battle would end.
• Lu Ruochang refused to release the Dao Sect disciples, and Xiao Hua threatened her before drawing in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to form a Nascent Soul hand around her.
• Ruoling pleaded with Xiao Hua to stay his hand, arguing that killing Lu Ruochang would not change the outcome of the battle.

Lu Ruochang’s flying-sword message revealed that the Sword Domain’s real objective had been to seize territory in Lian Kingdom, leaving Xiao Hua unable to change the war’s outcome. The sword cultivators departed in triumph while the defeated Daoist cultivators regrouped to return to Xuntian City.

• Xiao Hua prepared to attack Lu Ruochang, but a flying-sword message arrived and changed his mind.
• Lu Ruochang read the message and celebrated after learning that her forces had captured territory in Lian Kingdom.
• Ruoling announced that sword cultivators had taken lands, thirteen cultivation families, and two sects in Lian Kingdom, stunning both sides.
• Ruoling and Mu Ting led Lu Ruochang away as Zhu Chengye ordered the sword cultivators to return in triumph.
• Xiao Hua refused to hear about Qian Mo and flew south, while Heng Ming ordered the surviving Daoist cultivators to regroup and return to Xuntian City.
• Dexun wondered whether Xiao Hua had caused the strange dragon roar and lightning within the Sword Tomb.

After the Sword Tomb vanished, the Dao Sect survivors prepared to return to Xuntian City, while Fairy Hongxia suspected Wuming was Xiao Hua. Xiao Hua investigated his unusual Golden Core and waited for his wife, who finally flew toward him.

• Cheng Ming and the other Golden Core cultivators concluded that a strange beast's tribulation had caused the Sword Tomb's disappearance and vowed to report how Wuming had saved them.
• The surviving disciples flew west to join the other forces and return to Xuntian City, while Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao suspected Wuming was Xiao Hua.
• Fairy Hongxia watched Mingyue gaze after Wuming, decided she would question her husband, and left with the others as the Sword Tomb became ordinary.
• Beneath the vanished Sword Tomb, a hidden shell lay amid boiling black and blood-red currents as drops of Xiao Hua's blood were drawn toward it.
• Several days later, Xiao Hua found that his Lightning Drawing Technique still worked and discovered a Heavenly Dao Starry Sky within his unusual Golden Core.
• Xiao Hua waited for Fairy Hongxia, who arrived after a delay and rushed toward him when her divine sense found him.

Xiao Hua reunited with Fairy Hongxia after the Sword Tomb battle, and they shared an intimate reunion before discussing his concealed cultivation and her ordeal. Fairy Hongxia insisted on continuing to walk her own cultivation path, and the chapter ended with her teasing Xiao Hua for getting the directions to their meeting place wrong.

• Fairy Hongxia embraced Xiao Hua and asked him to love her, and they spent several hours together in a hidden cave.
• Fairy Hongxia questioned Xiao Hua about his disguised identity as Nameless and his other partners, then told him not to appear as Nameless again.
• Fairy Hongxia explained that she had arrived late because the sects were counting survivors after the Daoist forces suffered heavy losses at Sword Tomb.
• Fairy Hongxia told Xiao Hua that Li Zongbao held their reward for killing Qin Jian and would give him a surprise.
• Fairy Hongxia recounted her experiences at Sword Tomb, and Xiao Hua comforted her while she insisted she must face her own cultivation trials.
• Fairy Hongxia revealed that Xiao Hua had mistaken the directions and that she had found him by flying farther west.

Xiao Hua told Fairy Hongxia that the Small Pouch had destroyed the Sword Tomb, while withholding details about matters tied to the Huanhua Sect. After discussing the war’s heavy losses and plans to reach Million Meng Mountain, they agreed that Fairy Hongxia would report to her sect while Xiao Hua stayed hidden and contacted Li Zongbao.

• Fairy Hongxia asked Xiao Hua about the Sword Tomb’s celestial phenomena, and he explained that the Small Pouch had destroyed it while keeping the complicated Huanhua Sect-related matters to himself.
• Fairy Hongxia examined the Small Pouch, urged Xiao Hua to guard its secret, and learned that he had picked it up as junk.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Hongxia discussed the losses among the cultivation sects, the unknown circumstances of Gan Mo’s death, and the expected arrival of Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Xiao Hua urged Fairy Hongxia to leave for Million Meng Mountain immediately, but she explained why they should first report to Martial Uncle Ming Yue and account for the dangers around the vanished Sword Tomb.
• Fairy Hongxia agreed to report to Martial Uncle Ming Yue and then travel with Xiao Hua, while Xiao Hua agreed to remain hidden and contact Li Zongbao.

Xiao Hua reunited with Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao after avoiding the Daoist main force, and learned how devastating the battle at Sword Mound had been. Li Zongbao explained that Tu Hong had proposed the Ten Directions Annihilation Great Formation, though its credit went to Gan Mo, leaving Xiao Hua astonished.

• Fairy Hongxia set off to meet Martial Uncle Xiang Ming while Xiao Hua used the Lightning Evasion Technique and reached the Daoist main force.
• Xiao Hua sent Li Zongbao a communication talisman and met him with Xiao Mao, whom he cautioned about staying close to Li Zongbao.
• Li Zongbao revealed that only a little over a hundred thousand Daoist disciples remained after the battle at Sword Mound.
• Li Zongbao told Xiao Hua that Lu Ruochang had forced Gan Mo to self-detonate, and Xiao Hua reflected on why Gan Mo had stayed behind.
• Li Zongbao explained that Tu Hong had proposed the Ten Directions Annihilation Great Formation, but Gan Mo received the credit after Tu Hong was killed by Qin Jian.

Xiao Hua experienced a mysterious change after hearing Li Zongbao explain the Sword Tomb battle, then divided the rewards for killing Qin Jian with Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao. As the war paused, the three learned their task force would be honored permanently and agreed to support one another.

• After Li Zongbao recounted the Sword Tomb battle, the Hand of Cause and Effect in Xiao Hua’s space surged, briefly filling him with profound insight and making Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao think he had changed.
• Li Zongbao offered to give up his share of the Council Hall rewards, but Xiao Hua insisted on dividing them with Xiao Mao and shared the treasures between them.
• Li Zongbao gave Xiao Hua the Thunder Control Sect Leader’s Special Pardon Order, which could pardon its holder from death once.
• Li Zongbao explained that the disciples would remain in Xuntian City until the Nascent Soul seniors arrived, after which they could return to their sects.
• Li Zongbao said the Council Hall special task force would be permanently commemorated, and the three agreed they could turn to one another for help.

After the war ended, Xiao Hua, Fairy Hongxia, and Li Zongbao agreed to travel to Million Meng Mountain, where Li hoped to see Cai Zhuoxia through a soul cultivator secret technique. A communication talisman then revealed that a close relative of Xiao Hua was in danger, and he rushed away alone.

• Fairy Hongxia arrived and told Xiao Hua that the war had ended, then arranged to travel with him to Million Meng Mountain.
• Li Zongbao revealed that he had loved Cai Zhuoxia and hoped to use a Million Meng Mountain secret technique to see her again.
• Xiao Hua explained that Cai Zhuoxia had died while protecting the Cai Family of Luyang from the schemes of Misty Mountain and Flying Phoenix Ridge.
• Fairy Hongxia invited Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao to accompany them to Million Meng Mountain, and Xiao Mao agreed to seek leave from the Xunyan Sect.
• Xiao Hua received a communication talisman saying a close relative was in danger and flew away using Zhe Lei Evasion.

Xiao Hua met Zhang Qingxiao, who urgently summoned him because Jiang Liuer had fallen unconscious after studying a Buddhist cultivation technique Xiao Hua had given him. Zhang Qingxiao prepared to take Xiao Hua to help, while Xiao Hua continued stabilizing his newly formed Golden Core and opened meridians.

• Fairy Hongxia and Li Zongbao decided to return to Xuntian City and prepare for the journey to Million Meng Mountain after Xiao Hua departed.
• Xiao Hua followed Zhang Qingxiao’s Communication Talisman and met him alone in the wilderness.
• Zhang Qingxiao revealed that he planned to establish the Heavenly Demon Sect during the coming Nascent Soul battle and questioned Xiao Hua about avoiding the Sword Tomb.
• Zhang Qingxiao explained that Jiang Liuer had fallen unconscious after studying Xiao Hua’s Buddhist technique, and Xiao Hua agreed to address the problem.
• Zhang Qingxiao confronted Xiao Hua about killing Tu Hong, and Xiao Hua defended his decision before taking spirit pills to stabilize his cultivation.