Chapter Summaries

Gao Dazhuang suspected Xiao Hua was the mysterious Nascent Soul cultivator from the Thunder Control Sect, but Qi Peng and Lian Xiaocao questioned his evidence and planned to report their suspicions carefully. Meanwhile, Snowy Realm True Person raged over Xuntian City's losses and the other sects' treatment of it, and the chapter left him frustrated that he could not easily draw Xiao Hua into the city.

• Gao Dazhuang identified Xiao Hua's swift Thunder Evasion Technique as a clue that Xiao Hua might be the unknown Nascent Soul cultivator from the Thunder Control Sect.
• Qi Peng and Lian Xiaocao argued that Xiao Hua's behavior and strength did not fit Gao Dazhuang's claim, and the three agreed to find a reliable Sword Transformation elder before reporting it.
• More sword cultivators arrived in response to Qi Peng's distress signal, while Xiao Hua traveled away feeling buoyed by his fight with Lian Xiaocao and reflecting on the danger of exposing his identity.
• Snowy Realm True Person complained to Fang Liebie and Jin Gang about Xuntian City's enormous losses and the other Nascent Soul cultivators' condescending praise at the banquet.
• Snowy Realm True Person accused the Thunder Control Sect of taking credit for Xuntian City's work and resented that its elders had not informed him about the Ten Directions Annihilation Great Formation.
• Fang Liebie and Jin Gang suggested confronting or luring Xiao Hua, but Snowy Realm True Person explained that the other elders had praised Xiao Hua and left him no easy way to summon him.

Snowy Realm True Person discussed Wuming, Xiao Hua, and the vanished Sword Tomb with Fang Liebie and Jin Gang, while weighing Xuntian City's losses and the threat from the sword cultivators. He then revealed that Xunyunzi had spoken to him after the banquet and began assessing Lu Ruochang's command of the war.

• Snowy Realm True Person reprimanded Fang Liebie and Jin Gang over their failings but deferred punishment until after the battle.
• Fang Liebie and Snowy Realm True Person reasoned that the Thunder Control Sect might be concealing Wuming's identity to protect him from rival sects.
• Jin Gang suggested Wuming might be Xiao Hua, but Snowy Realm True Person rejected the idea because Wuming had shown Nascent Soul power and Xiao Hua could not have advanced so quickly.
• Snowy Realm True Person said Xuntian City's priority was discovering why the Sword Tomb had vanished, while Fang Liebie admitted his investigation had found no answers about the disappearance or the dragon's roar.
• Snowy Realm True Person revealed that Xunyunzi had sent him a message after the banquet and began praising Lu Ruochang's strategy in the war.

Snowy Realm True Person explained that the Council Hall planned to leave Xuntian City for Lian Kingdom and learned that Qing Fengmin’s Heavenly Demon Sect had established bases across three kingdoms. As he discussed Xuntian City’s prospects, he sensed a visitor and went out to greet True Person Du'e.

• Snowy Realm True Person said Lu Ruochang had outmaneuvered the Daoist forces and that the Council Hall intended to move its command center to Lian Kingdom.
• Fang Liebie and Jin Gang feared Xuntian City would be abandoned and left vulnerable after the Council Hall departed.
• Fang Liebie reported that Qing Fengmin had founded the Heavenly Demon Sect in Xi Kingdom, Meng Kingdom, and Lian Kingdom, after Heaven Forsaken had been destroyed.
• Snowy Realm True Person speculated that the Heavenly Demon Sect had grown from Heaven Forsaken and hoped it possessed powerful cultivators who could secure its survival.
• Snowy Realm True Person suddenly left the hall and greeted True Person Du'e, praising his progress toward the late Nascent Soul stage.

True Person Du'e visited Xuntian City and discussed the Great Sword Dao Battle and the Immortal Music Sect's Elder Chan with Snowy Realm True Person. After learning about the gathered Nascent Soul cultivators and hearing hints of Elder Chan's breakthrough, Snowy Realm True Person asked why Du'e had come.

• Fang Liebie and Jin Gang welcomed True Person Du'e, who arrived with Snowy Realm True Person and sat in his own jade chair.
• Snowy Realm True Person and True Person Du'e shared wine and discussed the Great Sword Dao Battle, which was nearing its end.
• Snowy Realm True Person listed the Nascent Soul cultivators attending from Xi, Lian, and Meng Kingdoms.
• True Person Du'e revealed that Elder Chan had made a breakthrough, while Snowy Realm True Person speculated that the Immortal Music Sect elder might eventually reach Void Refinement.
• After Jin Gang brought spirit fruits, Snowy Realm True Person asked True Person Du'e what had brought him to Xuntian City.

True Person Du'e told Snowy Realm True Person that he was searching for someone on his master's orders, possibly connected to Li Chengxu's death and a secret mission. After Xuntian City began investigating Immortal Music Sect disciples and shared its war records, Du'e agreed to search through them, though he still did not know who he was looking for.

• True Person Du'e revealed that he had secretly met Li Chengxu years earlier and suspected Li Chengxu's death might be connected to the task he had assigned him.
• Fang Liebie recounted Li Chengxu's movements, including his dispute over a spirit beast at the Bidding Convention, and Du'e examined Li Chengxu's records.
• True Person Du'e asked whether Immortal Music Sect disciples had left the city after the Bidding Convention, and Jin Gang found records of more than ten who had entered Xuntian City.
• Jin Gang reported that most of those Foundation Establishment disciples had likely died or departed, so Snowy Realm True Person ordered him to determine each one's whereabouts.
• True Person Du'e admitted to Snowy Realm True Person that he was searching for someone but did not know whether that person had taken part in the Daoist cultivator war.
• Snowy Realm True Person ordered Fang Liebie to copy ten years of war reports for Du'e, who accepted the records and promised him a favor if the search succeeded.

True Person Du'e investigated Li Chengxu’s suspicious death and found leads in the battlefield records. He left Xuntian City alone to pursue them, while another hidden cultivator began following him in search of a gifted young disciple.

• Snowy Realm True Person received the battlefield reports, and True Person Du'e examined them for clues about the person his master had sent him to find.
• Jin Gang reported that the Immortal Music Sect disciples from years earlier had all died, then brought Zhou Yongchang to tell True Person Du'e what he knew about Li Chengxu.
• After questioning Zhou Yongchang privately, True Person Du'e gave him a jade slip for Di Haicheng and sent him away.
• True Person Du'e noticed clues in the jade slips and left the City Lord’s Mansion, heading toward another sect’s encampment rather than leaving Xuntian City.
• A thin, hidden cultivator appeared after True Person Du'e departed and decided to follow him while searching for a gifted young disciple.

Xiao Hua, Fairy Hongxia, Xiao Mao, and Li Zongbao traveled toward Million Meng Mountain as Xiao Hua worried about their fame and the dangers near Xuntian City. He recalled disguising himself to approach the city and, after learning its patrols had contracted, stopped to examine the small golden Buddha Hanzhu had given him.

• Xiao Hua and his companions flew over the former Sword Tomb toward Million Meng Mountain, while Fairy Hongxia, Xiao Mao, and Xiao Hua each appeared troubled or distracted.
• Xiao Hua reflected that Fairy Hongxia’s battle achievements had made her widely renowned, while his own reputation remained obscured by the name Nameless.
• Xiao Hua recalled approaching Xuntian City in disguise as Feng Yi of Huanhua Sect and speaking with Shanghua Sect cultivators on patrol.
• A patrol cultivator told Xiao Hua that Xuntian City had contracted its patrols to within ten li, leaving other sects to cover the surrounding area.
• Xiao Hua decided to avoid Xuntian City until he reached Nascent Soul Great Perfection, then took out the small golden Buddha Hanzhu had given him.

Xiao Hua met Han Zhu outside Xuntian City and was reprimanded for recklessly using Buddhist abilities near Nascent Soul cultivators. He then showed Han Zhu Jiang Liuer, whose condition Han Zhu identified as the Heart Extinction Realm, leaving Xiao Hua puzzled about what the realm meant.

• Xiao Hua waited outside Xuntian City for Han Zhu, who arrived after nightfall and led him away by an evasive route.
• Han Zhu scolded Xiao Hua for using Mind Reading near Xuntian City, warning that Nascent Soul cultivators could detect Buddhist abilities and that his actions had nearly exposed them both.
• Han Zhu examined Xiao Hua's Buddhist consciousness and Heart Sutra, noting that his consciousness had grown faint and that the scripture was too low-level.
• Xiao Hua took Jiang Liuer from the Spirit Storage Bag and asked Han Zhu for help; Han Zhu recognized Jiang Liuer's condition as the Heart Extinction Realm.
• Han Zhu asked how long Jiang Liuer had cultivated before entering the Heart Extinction Realm, and Xiao Hua guessed that it had been only several months.

Xiao Hua learned that Jiang Liuer’s Heart Extinction Realm might lead him toward supreme Buddhahood, but only the Buddhist Sect ruins might hold a way to awaken him. After Han Zhu departed, Xiao Hua found new confidence in Jiang Liuer’s fate and then confronted Xiao Mao, who revealed that his enemy was in Xuntian City.

• Han Zhu told Xiao Hua that Jiang Liuer’s Heart Extinction Realm could greatly aid his Buddhist cultivation, but he knew no way to awaken him and could not leave for the Buddhist Sect ruins.
• Han Zhu exchanged communication talismans with Xiao Hua, warned him to protect Jiang Liuer, and flew away.
• Xiao Hua reasoned that Jiang Liuer’s fate might be tied to the Buddhist Sect ruins and became less anxious about his condition.
• Fairy Hongxia and Xiao Hua spoke about their affection and noticed that Xiao Mao had grown gloomy.
• Xiao Hua asked Xiao Mao what troubled him, and Xiao Mao admitted that he had seen his enemy again in Xuntian City.

Xiao Mao revealed the fragments of his childhood and the blood feud that had driven him, while Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia urged him to put cultivation before hatred. His parents’ strange deaths and his unusual early education led Xiao Hua to suspect they were Confucian cultivators.

• Xiao Mao admitted that hatred over his parents’ deaths had long burdened him and driven his cultivation, and Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia advised him to pursue the Great Dao instead of vengeance.
• Xiao Mao recalled living as a child with his parents in a secluded valley until a mysterious man killed them and his mother whispered the killer’s name to him.
• Xiao Mao said the killer appeared terrified before Xiao Mao lost consciousness, and a Xunyan Sect senior brother later found him and brought him to Golden Goose Ridge.
• Li Zongbao reasoned that a powerful friend of Xiao Mao’s parents may have arrived during the attack and rescued him, while Fairy Hongxia questioned why his parents had not prepared him to cultivate.
• Xiao Mao revealed that his mother had taught him characters from their hometown, prompting Xiao Hua to suspect that his parents had been Confucian cultivators from outside Xi Kingdom.

Xiao Hua and his companions struggled to cross the vanished Sword Tomb, evading sword cultivator patrols as they traveled toward Huan Country. When three Sword Transformation Swordsmen discovered them, one descended to confront the group, and Li Zongbao tried to reason with him.

• Xiao Mao recounted how he had found his mother's jade pendant in Jingbo City and met Xiao Hua, while Fairy Hongxia comforted him about his parents.
• Fairy Hongxia consulted her ancestral jade slip, and the group continued through the Sword Tomb toward Huan Country despite its disappearance and the danger of spatial rifts.
• Xiao Hua spotted sword cultivator patrols and led the group in avoiding them, but their route grew confused as they evaded divine sense sweeps and new guards.
• Three Sword Transformation Swordsmen flew overhead, stirring Xiao Hua's sword essence and prompting him to consider storing it in his sealed middle dantian.
• The Sword Transformation Swordsmen detected the group, and one descended to question them; Li Zongbao explained that they had withdrawn from the war and were only traveling.

Xiao Hua and his companions encountered Sword Transformation elders while traveling through the Sword Tomb, and one elder used sword qi to knock them down before warning them that the Sword Domain was dangerous. After they resumed their journey, they learned that the elders had discovered Xiao Hua’s identity, and Chong Taixu argued that he should kill him for Qin Jian’s death.

• A Sword Transformation elder recognized Xiao Hua and the others as the Dao Sect cultivators involved in killing Qin Jian and breaking the Four Directions Sword Array, then refused Xiao Hua’s request for a travel token.
• The elder trapped the four companions in a sword net and hurled them to the mountain foothills, then continued after a group of five figures.
• Xiao Hua and his companions recovered and saw a flying-sword message pass overhead; Li Zongbao urged them to hurry out of the Sword Tomb before defenses tightened.
• Cheng Minghua told Chong Taixu that three of the four Dao Sect cultivators had killed Qin Jian, prompting Chong Taixu to consider attacking Xiao Hua.
• Cheng Minghua and Qi Liandie objected that a Sword Transformation Swordsman should not attack a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and Chong Taixu hesitated.

True Person and the Fairy investigated the vanished Sword Tomb and suspected an ancient artifact, the Myriad Annihilation Heaven Dou, had been involved. As Xiao Hua and his companions fought their way toward Huan Kingdom, Xiao Hua broke through a large patrol force with the Sea-Overturning Seal.

• The Fairy examined the site of the vanished Sword Tomb and found traces of a possible large-scale blood sacrifice, though she could not confirm what had caused its disappearance.
• True Person relayed the Fairy’s suspicion that an ancient calamity artifact called the Myriad Annihilation Heaven Dou might have appeared there, and the Sword Transformation Swordsmen decided to continue with their original plans.
• Chong Taixu sent a flying sword message toward Huan Kingdom after declaring that Dao Sect cultivators should not roam freely through the Sword Domain.
• Li Zongbao and his companions repeatedly confronted patrolling swordsmen as they forced their way through the Sword Tomb toward Huan Kingdom.
• Xiao Hua used the Sea-Overturning Seal to knock aside dozens of flying swords and burst through a force of more than a hundred Bright Sword and Womb Sword Swordsmen.

Xiao Hua and his companions broke through the swordsmen’s blockade and traveled deep into Huan Kingdom, marveling at its frozen landscapes and extraordinary multicolored night sky. After Xiao Hua sensed someone nearby and called them out, the others found no sign of anyone.

• Xiao Hua used his Town Cloud Seal and Sea-Overturning Seal to scatter the swordsmen, then led Fairy Hongxia, Li Zongbao, and Xiao Mao safely away.
• Fairy Hongxia guided the group northwest into Huan Kingdom, where their escape soon drew the swordsmen’s attention.
• Xiao Hua and his companions crossed Huan Kingdom for several days, admiring its vast ice-covered mountains and unusually blue sky.
• The group witnessed a long, brilliantly colored display of lights spreading across Huan Kingdom’s night sky.
• Xiao Hua called out to a suspected presence, but Fairy Hongxia and the others detected nothing nearby.

Xiao Hua and his companions encountered Qi Chengyi and three other swordsmen from Seven Spirit Mountain beneath the Extreme Magnetic Yuan Light. Qi Chengyi invited Xiao Hua to Seven Spirit Mountain to discuss its Vanta Great Formation and a spiritual-artifact refining method, then raised Xiao Hua’s encounter with Ling Yunwu and Yu Wan.

• Xiao Hua exposed Qi Chengyi and the concealed Cheng Jian and Cheng Ming, who identified themselves as swordsmen of Seven Spirit Mountain.
• Qi Chengyi questioned Xiao Hua and his companions about their presence in the Sword Domain, while Fairy Hongxia challenged his remarks about the war.
• Qi Chengyi invited Xiao Hua to visit Seven Spirit Mountain and offer guidance on the Vanta Great Formation, but Xiao Hua refused.
• Qi Chengyi revealed that the invitation contained a secret method for refining spiritual artifacts, but Xiao Hua remained wary of the offer.
• Qi Chengyi offered to set up the Vanta Great Formation beside their route and admitted he had another plan, asking whether Xiao Hua had met Ling Yunwu and Yu Wan at Quanjin Mountain.

Xiao Hua agreed to wager the Sword Pouch against Seven Spirit Mountain’s spirit-artifact refining secret art by challenging its Vanta Great Formation. Though he initially planned to avoid the trap, Fairy Hongxia urged him to embrace the bearing expected of a future sect leader, and Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao supported her.

• Qi Chengyi proposed that Xiao Hua wager Ling Yunwu’s Sword Pouch against a secret art, with Xiao Hua facing the Vanta Great Formation to win it.
• Xiao Hua examined the secret art’s sample, showed Qi Chengyi the Sword Pouch, and agreed to the challenge before Qi Chengyi and his companions departed.
• Fairy Hongxia questioned how the four of them could defeat the formation, while Xiao Hua argued that they should avoid the trap and leave.
• Li Zongbao noted that Seven Spirit Mountain might already have set the formation in their path, and Fairy Hongxia and Xiao Mao insisted they should face it as representatives of the Dao Sect.
• Fairy Hongxia told Xiao Hua he must stop thinking like a Rogue Cultivator and cultivate the bearing of a future sect master, and Li Zongbao and Xiao Mao agreed with her.

Xiao Hua and his companions prepared to break Seven Spirit Mountain’s Vanta Great Formation, while Li Zongbao explained the rare Extreme Magnetic Yuan Light and the Kunlun Sect’s role in gathering it. They discovered sword cultivators blocking their route, and Xiao Hua learned that Xiao Mao’s divine sense reached farther than expected.

• Xiao Hua accepted Fairy Hongxia’s advice and reassured her that he welcomed her speaking frankly, then remembered clues suggesting Xiang Zhili had concealed his cultivation.
• Li Zongbao told Xiao Hua that Extreme Magnetic Yuan Light came from far northern regions and that the Kunlun Sect had successfully used it to refine powerful magical treasures.
• Xiao Mao spotted more than a hundred sword cultivators near an ice field and another force blocking the route toward Million Meng Mountain.
• Li Zongbao revealed that the Spirit Devouring Great Formation had ruined his Immortal-Piercing Whip, so he had borrowed his master’s Two Principles Ring.
• Li Zongbao was surprised to learn that Xiao Mao’s divine sense could detect conditions more than a dozen li away.

True Person and the Fairy investigated the vanished Sword Tomb and suspected an ancient artifact called the Myriad Annihilation Heaven Dou, though they could not confirm it. Chong Taixu sent a message to block Dao Sect cultivators, but Xiao Hua and his companions broke through the Sword Domain’s patrols, leaving Xiao Hua confronting more than a hundred swordsmen.

• The Fairy examined the former site of the Sword Tomb and sensed traces of a large blood sacrifice, but True Person said Dao Sect cultivators were unlikely to have caused its disappearance.
• True Person relayed the Fairy’s suspicion that an ancient evil artifact, possibly the Myriad Annihilation Heaven Dou, had made the Sword Tomb vanish.
• Chong Taixu, Cheng Minghua, and Qi Liandie decided to continue with the Sword Domain’s plans, and Chong Taixu sent a flying sword message toward Huan Kingdom to hinder Dao Sect cultivators.
• Li Zongbao and his companions fought through increasingly heavy patrols as they fled the Sword Tomb toward Huan Kingdom.
• Xiao Hua used the Sea-Overturning Seal to break through a group of more than a hundred Bright Sword and Womb Sword Swordsmen, then warned them not to block his way again.

Xiao Hua and his companions broke through the swordsmen guarding the Sword Graveyard and traveled into Huan Kingdom, where they marveled at its icy landscapes and brilliant night sky. After they watched a colorful celestial display, Xiao Hua sensed someone nearby and called them out, but nothing appeared.

• Xiao Hua used his seals to scatter a large force of swordsmen, and Fairy Hongxia helped the group escape without a fight.
• Xiao Hua, Fairy Hongxia, Li Zongbao, and Xiao Mao crossed into Huan Kingdom and headed northwest as news of their intrusion spread among the swordsmen.
• The four traveled for days through Huan Kingdom's vast snowfields and watched its unusually long daylight and night.
• The group watched multicolored bands of light sweep across the night sky, delighting Fairy Hongxia and drawing Li Zongbao's quiet attention.
• Xiao Hua sensed someone nearby and called out, but Li Zongbao, Fairy Hongxia, and Xiao Mao found no sign of anyone.

Xiao Hua and his companions encountered Qi Chengyi and three concealed swordsmen from Seven Spirit Mountain, who invited them to visit the mountain and study its Vanta Great Formation. Qi Chengyi revealed that he also had another reason for approaching Xiao Hua, asking whether Xiao Hua had met Ling Yunwu and Yu Wan at Quanjin Mountain.

• Xiao Hua exposed Qi Chengyi and the three hidden Cheng brothers, who introduced themselves as swordsmen from Seven Spirit Mountain.
• Qi Chengyi recognized Xiao Hua, Li Zongbao, Fairy Hongxia, and Xiao Mao and discussed the war and the Extreme Magnetic Yuan Light with them.
• Qi Chengyi offered Xiao Hua a sword invitation to Seven Spirit Mountain, claiming the sect wanted his guidance on the Vanta Great Formation.
• Xiao Hua refused to visit until Qi Chengyi mentioned that the invitation included a secret art for refining spirit artifacts.
• Qi Chengyi said he could set up the Vanta Great Formation beside the travelers' route and admitted he had another purpose for approaching Xiao Hua.
• Qi Chengyi asked whether Xiao Hua had met Ling Yunwu and Yu Wan at Quanjin Mountain, and Xiao Hua answered evasively.