Chapter Summaries

Cheng Xinzhan and Wu Mei destroyed Cold-Taste Temple, and Cheng Xinzhan gained its cold baleful intent and comprehended a new principle of the Great Yin. After questioning Monk Han Shi, he learned about the eight suffering methods and asked to be taken to the temple that practiced Declining Wind.

• Cheng Xinzhan captured Monk Han Shi’s primordial spirit and threatened him into cooperating, then learned that the Western Kham temples followed the Ku Tuo lineage.
• Monk Han Shi lured the temple’s demonic monks outside, where Cheng Xinzhan and Wu Mei killed them and freed the mortals held inside.
• Cheng Xinzhan took Monk Han Shi’s possessions and north pole cold-light baleful intent, while Wu Mei claimed the other spoils and recorded that Eastern Dao had helped destroy Cold-Taste Temple.
• Cheng Xinzhan refined the cold baleful intent, divided it between his Water Palace and Yin Hall, and comprehended [Stillness], the third character of the Great Yin Spell.
• Cheng Xinzhan questioned Monk Han Shi about the Eight-Suffering Wisdom King’s methods and asked him to lead the way to the temple that practiced Declining Wind.

Cheng Xinzhan studied the Ku Tuo lineage’s Suffering of Declining Wind and set out to kill Monk Weeping Wind at Withered-Longevity Chan Monastery. He unleashed the sword Eastern Splendor Azure Pivot, and the chapter ended as Monk Weeping Wind charged out to meet him.

• Cheng Xinzhan recalled the Ku Tuo lineage’s dangerous practice of using karmic wind to hasten aging and sought records of Withered-Longevity Chan Monastery from Yan Renying.
• Yan Renying gave Cheng Xinzhan the monastery’s records, and Cheng Xinzhan arranged for White Dragon and Zhaoli to take demon-slaying assignments at the Sword Pavilion.
• Cheng Xinzhan reached Wind-Eroded Ridge and confirmed that Monk Weeping Wind lived alone in the monastery, protected by a deathly wind.
• Cheng Xinzhan called out through Monk Han Shi’s Primordial Spirit, but Monk Weeping Wind recognized the ruse and refused to come out at first.
• Cheng Xinzhan drew Eastern Splendor Azure Pivot and flooded Anvil Gorge with Sword Qi, destroying the monastery’s hanging structures and tearing its white flags apart.
• Monk Weeping Wind emerged from the cavern and charged Cheng Xinzhan as the azure Sword Qi dragon attacked him.

Cheng Xinzhan fought the Wind-Weeping Monk in Anvil Gorge, using Yang Fire and Yang Wood Sword Qi to counter the monk’s wind arts. After drawing the monk’s attention with fifteen sword strikes, Cheng Xinzhan revealed a green wall of vegetation formed from the sword scars on the cliff, and completed his incantation.

• Cheng Xinzhan used the Azure Dragon Sword Qi and Crescent Moon Sword Qi to pressure the Wind-Weeping Monk, who dodged their attacks with wind techniques.
• Cheng Xinzhan poured Yang Fire from his gourd into the gorge, forcing the Wind-Weeping Monk out of the burning wind and testing the monk’s White-Haired Wind.
• Cheng Xinzhan discovered that his Inner Vision World could swallow the monk’s Yin Wind Baleful Intent, then continued attacking with Yang Fire and Yang Wood Sword Qi.
• The Wind-Weeping Monk summoned the winds around Wind-Eroded Ridge, extinguished the flames, and turned his Wind-Horse Banners into skeletal white horses to attack Cheng Xinzhan.
• After Cheng Xinzhan sheathed his sword, he revealed that his fifteen strikes had carved sword scars into the cliff and bound them into a formation with the Eastern Pole Demon-Binding Seal.
• Cheng Xinzhan’s Azure Dragon Sword Qi struck the final opening in the cliff formation, where plants and vines filled the barren wall as he spoke the final word of his incantation.

Cheng Xinzhan defeated Monk Weeping Wind, destroyed Withered-Longevity Chan Monastery, and returned to the Western Sichuan Sword Pavilion, where he met escape-arts expert Tong Yuanqi. His swift victory and return astonished Yan Renying and the assembled disciples.

• Cheng Xinzhan sealed away the wind at Wind-Eroded Ridge, overcame Monk Weeping Wind's defensive Buddhist art with Peach Capital, and captured the monk's head and primordial spirit.
• Cheng Xinzhan searched Withered-Longevity Chan Monastery, found the remains of thousands of mortals, recited a scripture for the dead, and collapsed the cavern after recording that the Eastern Dao and Western Sichuan Sword Pavilion had destroyed it.
• Cheng Xinzhan returned to the Sword Pavilion using the Li Fire Sword-Escape Method and encountered Tong Yuanqi, who was teaching escape arts to the disciples.
• Tong Yuanqi praised Cheng Xinzhan's escape method, and Cheng Xinzhan listened to his discussion of the principles of escape arts.
• Cheng Xinzhan handed Monk Weeping Wind's head to Yan Renying and went inside; Yan Renying revealed that Cheng Xinzhan had made the round trip in less than half an hour, astonishing Tong Yuanqi and the disciples.

Cheng Xinzhan refined Monk Weeping Wind’s White-Gao Impermanence Baleful Intent and studied the Withered-Longevity Chan Monastery’s Declining Wind teachings. He learned how to gather Declining Wind from autumn weather and wondered whether it was an unrecorded Heavenly Gang.

• Cheng Xinzhan sorted Monk Weeping Wind’s possessions, gave spiritual items to Li and White Dragon, and sent demonic treasures and scriptures back to his sect.
• Li and Shao Li subdued the liver artifact in Cheng Xinzhan’s sword furnace, which refined it into a mass of White-Gao Impermanence Baleful Intent.
• Cheng Xinzhan absorbed the yin wind and spent three days contemplating its principles of death, decay, and the dissolution of the body.
• Cheng Xinzhan forced Monk Weeping Wind to transmit the Declining Wind method, then checked it against the monastery’s texts and other Buddhist sources.
• Cheng Xinzhan studied the Sutra of Realizing Emptiness and learned that Declining Wind could be gathered from autumn wind at a rare celestial time using specialized implements.
• Cheng Xinzhan suspected Declining Wind might be an unrecorded Heavenly Gang, then turned to the human method of gathering it.

Cheng Xinzhan forged nets and bottles to gather cold dew, finally collecting five zhu on the last night of the opportunity. He then spotted bloodlight in the north and raced toward White River Mouth, where he saw the Yellow River ahead.

• Cheng Xinzhan found a deserted mountain of poisonous hot springs and forged three Xin Metal nets and three Dew-Receiving Bottles.
• Cheng Xinzhan waited through several nights for frost, then used divination to learn that his opportunity had not yet unfolded.
• On the twenty-second day of the ninth month, frost appeared on Cheng Xinzhan's eyebrows, and he gathered five zhu of cold dew with his nets.
• Cheng Xinzhan saw bloodlight in the north, recognized that a Demon Fiend was likely killing there, and hurried toward the White River Sword Pavilion.
• Cheng Xinzhan followed the White River north and reached the Yellow River near White River Mouth.

Cheng Xinzhan joined the defense of White River Sword Pavilion and fought beside Zhou Qingyun against the Blood God Sect’s Three Enchantresses. He left the battlefield’s fierce clash briefly silent after killing Tang Caiwei with his Thunder Arts, while Zhou Qingyun appeared to recognize him.

• Cheng Xinzhan arrived at White River Sword Pavilion and entered the battle after presenting his Western Sichuan Sword Pavilion token.
• Cheng Xinzhan warned Zhou Qingyun of Tang Caizhen’s White Bone Flying Needles and broke through the encirclement to join her.
• Zhou Qingyun identified Tang Caizhen, Tang Caiwei, and Tang Caixing as the Blood God Sect’s Three Enchantresses and explained their specialties.
• Tang Caiwei attacked Cheng Xinzhan with Purple Fire Rotten Peach Baleful Intent, but he dispersed it with Earthly Thunder.
• Cheng Xinzhan struck Tang Caiwei with three Thunder Incantations, destroying her Golden Core and Primordial Spirit and killing her.
• Zhou Qingyun and the surrounding Demon Fiends recognized the power of Cheng Xinzhan’s Thunder Arts, and the battlefield fell briefly silent.

Cheng Xinzhan escaped Yu Jiaoniang’s Lique Blood Godlight by weakening it with thunder and yang fire before destroying it with the Northern Dipper Commands Water. The battle continued as Ye Yuanjing wounded Yu Jiaoniang, while the Tang sisters pursued Cheng Xinzhan again.

• Cheng Xinzhan turned Tang Caiwei’s scattered baleful intent into purple fire, forcing Tang Caizhen and Tang Caixing to recall their treasures as Yu Jiaoniang attacked him with Lique Blood Godlight.
• Cheng Xinzhan evaded the bloodlight and weakened it with Heavenly Thunder and a Purple Fire Yang Talisman, but it continued its pursuit.
• Zhou Qingyun sent Azure Cord to help Cheng Xinzhan, but he redirected the sword back to her, where it cut down dozens of demons attacking her.
• Cheng Xinzhan used the Northern Dipper Commands Water to dissolve the bloodlight and damage Yu Jiaoniang’s shawl, giving Ye Yuanjing an opening to wound her with sword threads.
• Cheng Xinzhan assessed the cost of his techniques and the strength of the Blood God Sect’s magic, then the Tang sisters caught up with him again.

Cheng Xinzhan broke Tang Caizhen and Tang Caixing’s formation, killed both sisters, and drove Monk Kongse into retreat after he recognized the name Yunlai. He then merged his two bodies and went to help Zhou Qingyun, while the surrounding fighters left a gap around her.

• Tang Caizhen and Tang Caixing trapped Cheng Xinzhan in their Enchantress Ghost Devouring People Formation, but he used Nether Capital to tear open the formation.
• Monk Kongse bound Nether Capital with his White Bones Buddhist Beads, while Cheng Xinzhan sent his bamboo body out through the opening and killed Tang Caizhen and Tang Caixing.
• Cheng Xinzhan dispersed the sisters’ primordial spirits and broke the formation with his original body, then attacked Monk Kongse from both sides.
• Cheng Xinzhan drained Monk Kongse’s Buddhist beads and forced him to flee after the monk recognized him as Yunlai.
• Monk Kongse used White Bones Baleful Thunder to escape across the river, and Cheng Xinzhan merged his bodies before flying to Zhou Qingyun’s aid.

Cheng Xinzhan and Zhou Qingyun spoke openly about their past, and Ye Yuanjing’s sword strike drove Yu Jiaoniang and the demonic attackers from the White River Sword Pavilion. After the cultivators gathered to recover and give thanks, Cheng Xinzhan introduced himself as Yunlai Rogue Person and discussed the battle with Ye Yuanjing and Zhou Qingyun, who asked to learn from his insights.

• Zhou Qingyun recognized Cheng Xinzhan as the Qingzhou swordsman Wu Mei had mentioned, and they spoke about their backgrounds and the Kan Water Sword Manual.
• Zhou Qingyun admitted her past mistake to Cheng Xinzhan, who counseled her with passages from the Nanhua Scripture and accepted her remorse.
• Ye Yuanjing used Harmonize with the Light, Blend with the Dust to wound Yu Jiaoniang, who retreated with the remaining Demon Fiends.
• Zhou Qingyun thanked the cultivators who defended the Sword Pavilion, and Cheng Xinzhan introduced himself as Yunlai Rogue Person.
• Ye Yuanjing explained how Cheng Xinzhan’s actions had helped her defeat Yu Jiaoniang, then praised his understanding of sword clouds; Zhou Qingyun asked him to guide her.

After helping the White River Sword Pavilion defeat the demonic cultivators, Cheng Xinzhan accepted a guest elder position and a reward from the pavilion. Back at the Western Sichuan Sword Pavilion, he discovered that the reward included Emei’s Grand Unity Light-Splitting Sword Art, granted under a scheme designed to recruit demon slayers and test the Seven Flying Immortals of Truth.

• Ye Yuanjing invited Cheng Xinzhan to join the White River Sword Pavilion, and Zhou Qingyun gave him an entry token; Cheng accepted the token and agreed to stay for his reward.
• Cheng Xinzhan painted the meeting of the Yellow River and White River, wrote an inscription about water and rivers, and received a storage talisman from Zhou Qingyun.
• Before leaving, Cheng Xinzhan offered Zhou Qingyun advice about sword radiance, describing how it borrowed sunlight and cloud vapor to reveal deeper principles.
• Back at the Western Sichuan Sword Pavilion, Cheng Xinzhan unpacked the reward and found Great Unity Divine Thunder, Great Unity Azure Spirit Arrows, and the Grand Unity Light-Splitting Sword Art.
• Cheng Xinzhan learned from Zhou Qingyun’s note that Emei had authorized the seven Sword Pavilions to teach selected secret arts to cultivators who earned merit slaying demons, and that Ye Yuanjing had awarded him the sword art for his contributions.

Cheng Xinzhan refined wind dew through its three perilous stages, experiencing life and death as a seventeen-year cicada before absorbing the Plain Wind Cool-Heavenly Gang. The wind accelerated the approach of his Golden Core tribulation clouds, confirming that it could hasten his next tribulation.

• Cheng Xinzhan finished studying the Grand Unity Light-Splitting Sword Art, then prepared his meditation chamber and defenses to refine the wind dew.
• Cheng Xinzhan held a drop of wind dew beneath his tongue and spent seventeen perceived years as a cicada before dying and waking in his human body.
• Cheng Xinzhan completed the second stage by coating his teeth with wind dew, endured severe pain, and discovered he had lost a front tooth.
• Cheng Xinzhan swallowed the remaining wind dew and used Yellow Pole Zhengwu Baleful Intent and his Inner Landscape Deities to subdue the Declining Wind, naming it Plain Wind Cool-Heavenly Gang.
• Cheng Xinzhan directed the plain wind against the tribulation clouds in his Yellow Court Palace and saw them move faster toward his Golden Core.

Cheng Xinzhan comprehended the Great Yin Spell character [Turn] while refining plain wind, then learned that his attendants had distinguished themselves at the White Jade Forest. After seeing how the White Ant Monks had devastated the land to build their stone mountains, he agreed they deserved to die.

• Cheng Xinzhan realized plain wind affected the speed of his tribulation clouds and considered visiting Stone Plum Ancient Temple.
• Cheng Xinzhan understood the Great Yin principle [Turn] while contemplating the darkened moon, completing half of the spell’s eight characters.
• Wu Mei told Cheng Xinzhan that his attendants had earned the titles Mountain-Throwing Lord and Molten-Gold Lord while fighting at White Jade Forest.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Wu Mei flew to the White Jade Forest and saw its enormous mountains, built from vast squared stones.
• Wu Mei explained that the White Ant Monks destroyed mountains, waterways, and wildlife to obtain stones for their construction, and Cheng Xinzhan judged them deserving of death.

Cheng Xinzhan joined Wu Mei in the White Jade Forest and discovered that the stone mountains concealed the suppressed Lion Mountain Lord, a Green-Mane Snow Lion. As the Sword Pavilion’s talismans erased the inscriptions holding him down, the Snow Lion roared beneath the forest and shook the mountains.

• Wu Mei told Cheng Xinzhan that the Sword Pavilion had cleared most of the White Jade Forest but still searched its inner stone mountains for a hidden Fourth Washing demon fiend.
• Cheng Xinzhan found Zhaoli and White Dragon fighting alongside the Sword Pavilion’s disciples, then joined Wu Mei in scouting the remaining mountains.
• Hidden Arrow warned Cheng Xinzhan inside an apparently empty mountain, where he discovered an account describing the Snow Lion and the binding spell carved into the stone.
• Cheng Xinzhan realized the Sword Pavilion’s talismans had erased the inscriptions suppressing the Snow Lion across more than seventy mountains.
• The Lion Mountain Lord roared underground, shaking the earth and mountains.

Cheng Xinzhan fought the newly freed Lion Mountain Lord inside the White Jade Forest pagoda and revealed his overwhelming primordial spirit power. He subdued the lion and tried to persuade him to follow him to the eastern sect for healing and cultivation guidance.

• The Lion Mountain Lord broke out from beneath the pagoda, and Cheng Xinzhan told Hu Qing and Wu Mei to stabilize the stone mountains and intercept the demon monks.
• Cheng Xinzhan used sword arts and spells to battle the lion while protecting the pagoda, then struck him with Peach Capital until he regained his senses.
• Cheng Xinzhan explained that the demon monks who had imprisoned the lion were dead and warned that Xuanmen might capture or exploit him if he left alone.
• The Lion Mountain Lord rejected Cheng Xinzhan's offer and attacked again, so Cheng Xinzhan summoned the Nine-Headed Azure Lion's sacred phantom and cowed him with its primordial spirit might.
• Cheng Xinzhan told the subdued lion that serving the Celestial Worthy Who Relieves Suffering was not the same as being an ordinary Xuanmen mount.

Cheng Xinzhan subdued the escaped lion demon and left the Western Sichuan Sword Pavilion to establish a separate sanctuary in Western Kham. After half a month of work, he completed his monastery and named the mountain Kanli Mountain Blessed Land and the monastery Guanxuan Monastery.

• Wu Mei, Tan Bai, and Hu Qing killed Monk Jing Shi, then gathered with the others when the lion roared from inside the rocky mountain.
• Cheng Xinzhan emerged riding the white-furred, green-maned lion and accepted Wu Mei and Tan Bai's recognition of it as his mount.
• Cheng Xinzhan decided to leave the Western Sichuan Sword Pavilion and build a separate abode near the Dadu River, while White Dragon packed his belongings.
• Cheng Xinzhan brought the lion and his attendants to the mountain, where White Dragon and Zhaoli cleared poisonous springs as he built a monastery and improved the formation.
• After completing the sanctuary, Cheng Xinzhan carved Kanli Mountain Blessed Land into the mountainside and named the monastery Guanxuan Monastery.

Cheng Xinzhan released Monk Han Shi’s spirit after forty-nine days of fiery punishment, then two years later welcomed Huyan Jun and his disciple Yu Nanlin to the Monastery of Contemplating Mysteries. Their visit was interrupted by Zhou Qingyun, who recognized Huyan Jun as she entered.

• Cheng Xinzhan released Monk Han Shi’s spirit to be reborn after completing forty-nine days of punishment, while Monk Weeping Wind still had four days left to suffer.
• Huyan Jun and Yu Nanlin arrived at Kanli Mountain, where Huyan Jun warned his disciple against disrespecting Cheng Xinzhan and the Golden-Eyed Jade Lion.
• The monastery’s children guided Huyan Jun and Yu Nanlin through its Five Elements formation, and they met Cheng Xinzhan and his sworn brother, Rogue Person Huaipu.
• Huyan Jun introduced himself as a disciple of True Person Hanxu and presented Yu Nanlin, while Feng Ji Hu noticed signs that Yu Nanlin’s cultivation had harmed her health.
• As Huyan Jun began explaining the purpose of his visit, Zhou Qingyun entered the monastery and recognized Huyan Jun.

Zhou Qingyun visited Cheng Xinzhan at Guanxuan Monastery, where Huyan Jun asked him to remove a mysterious baleful flame from his flying sword. Their discussion revealed that demonic sects were using baleful intents from distant regions, and Huyan Jun left as Yan Renying arrived; another visitor then appeared at Kanli Mountain.

• Zhou Qingyun arrived at Guanxuan Monastery, greeted Huyan Jun and his disciple Yu Nanlin, and gave Yu Nanlin a signed inscription for Lü Linggu.
• Huyan Jun showed Cheng Xinzhan the Golden Fire Divine Thunder Sword, which Poison Bone Venerable's green phosphorus fire had defiled, and Cheng identified the flame as Mount Beimang's Yin Ruins Ghost-Lantern Baleful Intent.
• Cheng Xinzhan agreed to try to remove the baleful flame and asked Huyan Jun to return for his sword in ten days; they discussed signs that demonic sects were exchanging powers and treasures.
• Huyan Jun left the monastery, and Yan Renying arrived; Zhou Qingyun said she had come to ask Cheng Xinzhan for guidance on the Taiyi Splitting Light Sword.
• After leaving Kanli Mountain, Huyan Jun waited when he saw a streak of fire approaching, and a towering man landed at the mountain.

The author answered a reader’s questions about the novel’s portrayal of the Righteous Path, the Demon Path, and conflicts between them, explaining that cultivators are constrained by the demands and risks of cultivation. The response also addressed specific criticisms of the Western Kham storyline and ended with thanks for reader feedback.

• The author explained that the Righteous Path avoids harming people and protects mortals, while the Demon Path cultivates by killing people, and that their conflicts arise mainly from crossed boundaries or territorial disputes.
• The author said great cultivators often avoid fighting because they must cultivate, guide disciples, manage sects, and weigh the risks of battle, though exceptional masters have expanded their sects by slaying demons.
• The author explained that the Demon Path cannot be eradicated because cultivators may turn demonic and the dead can become demons amid yin qi and killing intent.
• The author answered questions about demon attacks, Blood God Child, the Three Corpses, and the survival of demonic sects, citing events and explanations already presented in the book.
• The author said most Demon Fiends in Western Kham had hidden or fled, noted that the demonic sects had coordinated and the Blood God Sect had reasons to attack Emei, and clarified that Xuanmen was currently on the offensive.
• The author promised to strengthen future characterization, pointed readers to the explanation of Heavenly Scabbard Mountain’s protective formation, and thanked them for their comments.

Huyan Jun and Yu Nanlin left Guanxuan Monastery after receiving guidance, and Wu Qingbo arrived to reunite with Cheng Xinzhan. As friends and visitors gathered, they discussed conflicts among the cultivators fighting demons in Kham, then Cheng Xinzhan and his old friends stayed behind to share news of their cultivation and talk through the night.

• Huyan Jun met Wu Qingbo outside Kanli Mountain, then told Yu Nanlin that Wu was a powerful unorthodox cultivator and discussed the guidance they had received from Daoist Guanxuan.
• Wu Qingbo introduced himself to Zhaoli and White Dragon as someone willing to guard Cheng Xinzhan, then entered the monastery and reunited with him.
• Yan Renying described how rival cultivators were obstructing the demon campaign in northern, southern, and western Kham, while Zhou Qingyun recounted tensions with Min Mountain Sword Pavilion.
• Yan Renying left after sharing bamboo wine, and Zhou Qingyun stayed for hours discussing Daoist fables with Cheng Xinzhan before departing at dusk.
• Feng Ji Hu and Wu Qingbo teased Cheng Xinzhan about Zhou Qingyun, then Cheng introduced the two old friends and asked about their cultivation.
• Feng Ji Hu explained how he formed his Golden Core with sick-tree blossom baleful intent and sun-charioteer light-rain gang, and gave Cheng Xinzhan a small bottle of the remaining baleful intent.