Chapter Summaries

Xiaoyaozi explained to Yu Huatian how Union with the Dao experts could conceal their cultivation, draw directly on spiritual energy, and wield the laws of heaven and earth. Yu Huatian realized that his past victories over powerful opponents had depended partly on their inability or unwillingness to use that power, leaving him aware of the true gap between himself and a fully capable Union with the Dao expert.

• Yu Huatian questioned how Union with the Dao experts could continue advancing, and Xiaoyaozi explained that special places and methods could hide them from the Heavenly Dao.
• Xiaoyaozi described the three aspects required for Union with the Dao and explained that experts in that realm could directly harness Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy without refining it.
• Xiaoyaozi revealed that true Union with the Dao experts could wield the laws of heaven and earth, though doing so risked alerting the Heavenly Dao and forcing them to ascend.
• Xiaoyaozi explained that Huike had avoided using the laws because he wanted to remain in the Divine Land, while the Sword Realm had prevented Xiao Aoshi from drawing on them.
• Yu Huatian reconsidered his encounters with Xiao Aoshi, Ying Yuan, the Longevity Immortal God, and Xiao Jingtian and recognized that he had underestimated the Union with the Dao Realm.

After Xiaoyaozi warned Yu Huatian about law-wielding experts, Yu Huatian headed for the Kunlun Mountains to investigate a mysterious power. There, ancient guardians discussed the weakening seal and identified him as the likely Person of Destiny meant to confront the coming Millennium Catastrophe.

• Yu Huatian reflected on Xiaoyaozi’s warning that powerful Union with the Dao experts could threaten his plans to unite the Divine Land, then continued toward Kunlun to investigate the mysterious power.
• Three elderly Daoists in Great Han discussed how the weakening Kunlun seal would soon release evil fiends that Great Qin had barely repelled a thousand years earlier.
• The yellow-robed Daoist revealed that the First Emperor had prophesied a new Person of Destiny would unite the Divine Land and face the evil fiends, and the elders identified Yu Huatian as the likely candidate.
• The yellow-robed Daoist said Senior Xiao had protected Yu Huatian and used Black Tortoise Blood to divine that Yu Huatian’s destiny lay beyond the Divine Land, but the elders decided not to interfere with his fate yet.
• A green-clad woman, a purple-robed man in Great Sui, and a mysterious presence in the Qinling Mountains also watched the approaching crisis as an ancient presence began to awaken.

Yu Huatian entered Kunlun Mountain and discovered a barrier that suppressed spiritual power and primordial spirit while leaving his sword intent and Five Elements Bloodline intact. Guided by Sword Chief’s detection of an evil presence, he reached a vast field of ancient corpses and a towering black gate, where the chapter left him facing the source of the sinister energy.

• Yu Huatian crossed Kunlun Mountain’s barrier, found his sword essence and primordial spirit suppressed, and used his invincible sword intent to keep flying.
• Yu Huatian continued deeper into the mountains, where he found ordinary wild animals and learned from Sword Chief that an evil presence lay ahead.
• Yu Huatian followed Sword Chief’s directions through increasingly numerous remains of ancient soldiers and weapons until he saw millions of skeletons across the mountains and plains.
• Yu Huatian reached a mountain of bones and discovered a thousand-foot black gate that sealed the terrifying evil energy Sword Chief had sensed.

Yu Huatian discovered that Kunlun Mountain’s barrier sealed a Gate of Darkness containing a hostile demon realm, and a powerful demon nearly devoured him. The First Emperor’s Ding Qin Sword saved him, but its power was spent, and Yu Huatian realized the seal was weakening and the demons might soon invade the Divine Land.

• Yu Huatian examined the Gate of Darkness and inferred that millions of soldiers had died trying to keep the evil power behind it from reaching the Divine Land.
• The gate stirred, and an enormous horned face emerged through the black mist, identified the place as the Demon-Sealing Land, and dragged Yu Huatian toward its mouth.
• A black dragon within a golden-lit longsword bit the face and drove it back through the gate; the demon roared Ying Zheng’s name and warned that its clan would descend again.
• Yu Huatian saw a barren world beyond the gate and distant armored figures gathering for war before the black mist concealed them again.
• The longsword fell powerless into Yu Huatian’s hands, and he identified it as the First Emperor’s Ding Qin Sword, which had saved his life.
• Yu Huatian concluded that Ying Zheng had sealed the demons a thousand years earlier, but the weakening seal could soon fail and bring catastrophe to the Divine Land.

After discovering that the Evil Race behind the Gate of Darkness could escape within ten years, Yu Huatian resolved to strengthen himself and unify the Divine Land. He arrived at Meng Tian’s camp outside the Liao capital just as Qiao Feng tried to use Yu Huatian’s name to negotiate peace, and Yu Huatian challenged Qiao Feng’s account from outside the tent.

• Yu Huatian left the Kunlun Barrier determined to grow stronger and unite the Divine Land before the seal failed, while Xiao Sanxiao revealed that the seal might last no more than ten years.
• Yu Huatian traveled through the Liao Kingdom toward its capital and learned that Meng Tian’s army had besieged Linhuang Prefecture after conquering the Liao Kingdom’s other capitals.
• Meng Tian agreed to receive a Liao envoy, and Qiao Feng entered the camp seeking peace for the Liao Kingdom.
• Qiao Feng argued that Meng Tian should spare the Liao Kingdom because Yu Huatian had promised him a favor and Northern Li had submitted to the Great Ming Dynasty.
• Yu Huatian’s voice came from outside the tent, denying that he had ever promised Qiao Feng a favor or enjoyed a pleasant conversation with him.

Yu Huatian met Qiao Feng at Meng Tian’s camp, where Qiao Feng secured a promise that Great Liao would be spared if it surrendered. Yu Huatian then questioned Meng Tian about the First Emperor’s supposed death, and their discoveries suggested the emperor may have led Qin’s forces to the Kunlun Barrier and might still be alive.

• Yu Huatian arrived at Meng Tian’s command tent, and Qiao Feng admitted he had borrowed Yu Huatian’s name to deter the Qin army.
• Qiao Feng asked Meng Tian to spare Great Liao’s people, and Meng Tian agreed to a ceasefire if the Liao Emperor surrendered before sunrise.
• After Qiao Feng left, Yu Huatian asked Meng Tian whether he had witnessed the First Emperor’s death, and Meng Tian said he had only heard the report.
• Yu Huatian told Meng Tian about the Kunlun Barrier, the Qin soldiers’ remains, and the evil race beyond the Gate of Darkness.
• Meng Tian recalled that soldiers and martial artists had mysteriously disappeared before the First Emperor reportedly died, and concluded that the emperor had led them to the Kunlun Barrier.
• Yu Huatian recalled seeing a figure resembling the First Emperor in the Immortal Realm and questioned whether the emperor had truly died.

Yu Huatian prepared to unify Divine Land and gather its strength against the evil race sealed beyond the Kunlun Barrier. After leaving Meng Tian to deal with the northern tribes, he arrived at the western border and ordered the Western Expedition to march on Great Sui, urging its forces to minimize casualties.

• Yu Huatian told Meng Tian that the First Emperor might have survived the Battle of Kunlun and explained that the coming evil race made unifying Divine Land urgent.
• Meng Tian pledged to follow Yu Huatian, who left him to handle the northern foreign tribes and the Liao Kingdom.
• Yu Huatian arrived in Great Song, where hundreds of thousands of soldiers and Jianghu fighters had gathered for the Western Expedition.
• An Embroidered Uniform Guard warned the grumbling sect leaders that anyone unwilling to join the expedition could leave, and they all agreed to stay.
• Yu Huatian divided the expedition, sending Sun Chengzong’s army toward Great Sui and Ma Jinliang’s Embroidered Uniform Guard ahead to gather intelligence.
• Yu Huatian ordered the Jianghu forces to target Great Sui’s Wulin and the Li Clan while minimizing casualties so Divine Land would retain strength to face the evil race.

After restoring order across Great Sui, Yuwen Tuo and Yang Lin prepared to face Ming’s Western Expeditionary Army at Jingmen Pass. Yuwen Tuo said he would confront Yu Huatian, and his sword began trembling as he sensed Yu Huatian’s arrival.

• Yuwen Tuo’s victories suppressed Great Sui’s rebellions, but news that Ming had conquered Great Song forced Yang Guang to recall him and Yang Lin to defend the eastern border.
• Yang Guang’s ministers trusted Yuwen Tuo to defeat Ming, while Dugu Feng warned that Ming’s strength made victory uncertain.
• At Jingmen Pass, Yang Lin and Yuwen Tuo surveyed Ming’s five hundred thousand troops and discussed the approaching Jianghu Coalition Army.
• Yuwen Tuo judged Ming’s coalition of martial artists to be the decisive threat and said he would face Yu Huatian, though he did not know whether he could defeat him.
• Yuwen Tuo’s sword suddenly rang and trembled, and he announced that Yu Huatian had arrived.

Ming and Great Sui faced off at Jingmen Pass, where Yang Lin proposed deciding the war through a duel to avoid the devastation of a full battle. Yu Huatian and Yuwen Tuo met in the air to fight, and Yu Huatian sensed that Yuwen Tuo’s aura and Heavenly Being Ninth Level cultivation seemed ordinary despite his identity as the Kunlun Mirror’s reincarnation.

• Ming’s Western Expeditionary Army reached Jingmen Pass, and Yuwen Tuo sensed that Yu Huatian was among the forces behind it.
• Sun Chengzong demanded Great Sui’s surrender and threatened an assault, so Yang Lin proposed a duel whose winner would decide whether Ming advanced or withdrew.
• Yang Lin explained that Great Sui could not withstand Ming’s Jianghu Coalition Army in a full battle, then asked Yuwen Tuo if he could defeat Yu Huatian; Yuwen Tuo said he would do his best.
• Yu Huatian identified Yuwen Tuo as the likely opponent and declined to send Yan Shisan, Dongfang Bubai, or Jian Yue, choosing to fight him himself.
• Yu Huatian and Yuwen Tuo crossed the battlefield and faced each other in the air before both armies.
• Yu Huatian recognized Yuwen Tuo as the Kunlun Mirror’s reincarnation, but found that his aura seemed ordinary and his cultivation was at Heavenly Being Ninth Level.

Yu Huatian revealed that Yuwen Tuo’s mother was safe in Ming and persuaded him to owe a favor for future help, then challenged him to a duel before the armies at Jingmen Pass. After Yu Huatian drove Yuwen Tuo back with one strike, Yuwen Tuo drew the Xuanyuan Sword and prepared to show its true power.

• Yu Huatian told Yuwen Tuo that he knew Yang Su had sent him and that his mother was safe in Ming, prompting Yuwen Tuo to agree to repay a favor.
• Yu Huatian asked Yuwen Tuo to fight before the armies so Yang Lin would honor his wager and surrender Jingmen Pass without a costly assault.
• Yu Huatian drew the Purple Demonic Sword, and both it and Yuwen Tuo’s sheathed sword trembled as if they sensed an ancient rivalry.
• Yuwen Tuo struck with his sheathed sword, but Yu Huatian’s Purple Demonic Sword repelled him and sent him flying back.
• Yu Huatian urged Yuwen Tuo to use his full strength, and Yuwen Tuo revealed the Xuanyuan Sword.

Yu Huatian and Yuwen Tuo began a fierce duel with the Purple Demonic Sword and Xuanyuan Sword, but Yu Huatian’s sword dao broke through during the battle. The Sword Realm appeared for him alone, and he ended the chapter thanking a baffled Yuwen Tuo.

• The Xuanyuan Sword’s power confronted the Purple Demonic Sword, whose sentience urged Yu Huatian to fight.
• Yu Huatian and Yuwen Tuo attacked each other, shattering the sky as their duel overwhelmed the soldiers and onlookers below.
• Yu Huatian’s martial arts insights converged into a new sword dao, causing swords across the land to rise and pay homage to him.
• The Sword Realm appeared above Yu Huatian, but he withdrew his sword intent and let the phantom disappear, leaving its opportunities for other swordsmen.
• Yu Huatian turned to the confused Yuwen Tuo and thanked him.

Yu Huatian perfected his Spirit Sword realm during his battle with Yuwen Tuo and realized that the Sword Immortal realm lay beyond it. After Yuwen Tuo conceded and left for Songzhou, Yang Lin accepted defeat and surrendered Jingmen Pass to Yu Huatian.

• Yu Huatian recognized that his Sword Intent and Sword Spirit had reached perfection, placing him one step from becoming a Sword Immortal.
• Yu Huatian and Yuwen Tuo acknowledged each other's strength, and Yu Huatian told him that the Xuanyuan Sword and Yuwen Tuo had not yet revealed their full potential.
• Yu Huatian invited Yuwen Tuo to stay in Ming with his mother, and Yuwen Tuo left for Songzhou to see her.
• Yuwen Tuo's departure convinced the Great Sui troops that he had lost, while the Ming army and allied Wulin experts celebrated Yu Huatian's victory.
• Yu Huatian confronted Yang Lin atop Jingmen Pass and asked whether he would honor their wager.
• Yang Lin accepted the defeat, asked Yu Huatian to treat Great Sui's people well, and surrendered the military tally, bringing Jingmen Pass under Ming control.

After Jingmen Pass fell, Yang Guang decided to abandon Luoyang and relocate Great Sui’s capital to Chang’an, leaving Yuwen Huaji and Yuwen Chengdu to delay the Ming Army. As Yu Huatian’s force advanced toward Luoyang, he learned of Yang Guang’s plan and noted that the emperor still refused to surrender.

• Yang Guang raged over the fall of Jingmen Pass, and Dugu Feng urged him to move the capital to Chang’an and summon the remaining armies.
• Yang Guang ordered Yuwen Huaji and Yuwen Chengdu to defend Luoyang with the Imperial Guards while he relocated the court.
• Yuwen Huaji told Yuwen Chengdu they had been abandoned, and the two decided to surrender to the Ming Army when it arrived.
• Yu Huatian’s army advanced toward Hangu Pass with Yang Lin persuading Great Sui’s garrisons to submit, while Yu Huatian refused Yang Lin’s request to show the Li Clan no mercy.
• An Embroidered Uniform Guard agent reported Yang Guang’s plan to relocate to Chang’an, and Yu Huatian concluded that Yang Guang still would not give up.

Yu Huatian met Ling Donglai in Chang'an and learned that the Demon Clan behind the Kunlun Barrier descended from Chiyou's Nine Li Tribe and had repeatedly threatened the Divine Land. Ling Donglai revealed that the First Emperor's sealing of the Well of Gods and Demons created an opportunity to defeat the Demon Clan when the seal broke.

• Yang Guang retreated to Chang'an and summoned troops from across Great Sui to defend the capital against Ming's Western Expedition.
• Yu Huatian entered Chang'an and met the purple-robed Ling Donglai, who had been waiting for him.
• Ling Donglai explained that the Demon Clan were the corrupted remnants of Chiyou's Nine Li Tribe, living in the Demon Realm beyond the Well of Gods and Demons.
• Ling Donglai told Yu Huatian that the First Emperor had spent Great Qin's National Fortune sealing the Well of Gods and Demons, contributing to the dynasty's fall.
• Yu Huatian feared the Divine Land could not withstand the Demon Clan's return, but Ling Donglai said the coming crisis offered a chance to eliminate the threat, an opportunity the First Emperor had secured.

Ling Donglai revealed that Yu Huatian was the Person of Destiny foretold by the First Emperor and explained how the War God Hall and reincarnated Upper Realm immortals could aid the fight against the Demon Clan. Yu Huatian resolved to seek allies among the Li Clan and investigate the First Emperor’s contingency in the Qinling Mountains.

• Ling Donglai told Yu Huatian that the First Emperor had ascended to the Upper Realm and prophesied the arrival of a Person of Destiny to unite the Divine Land against the Demon Clan.
• Ling Donglai identified Yu Huatian as that Person of Destiny and revealed that Chen Jingchou was the Earth Sovereign, urging Yu Huatian to spare the Li Clan while Chen matured.
• Ling Donglai said Upper Realm immortals might have reincarnated in the mortal world, suggesting Li Yuanba as a possible example, and Yu Huatian decided to visit the Li Clan.
• Ling Donglai revealed that Sun En held the Heaven Pendant and explained the War God Hall’s opportunities and entry limits; Yu Huatian said he wanted worthy martial artists to share them.
• Ling Donglai urged Yu Huatian to gather strength and allies, then told him the First Emperor had left a contingency in the Qinling Mountains before disappearing.

In Daxing Palace, Yang Guang prepared to surrender Great Sui after accepting that his resistance was futile, but Yu Huatian came to speak with him instead. Yu Huatian acknowledged Yang Guang’s achievements and failures, then proposed helping him continue ruling Great Sui by taking a different approach.

• Yang Guang asked Dugu Feng about reinforcements, then ordered the border troops to return and said he would await Ming in Daxing Palace.
• Yu Huatian appeared in the palace, identified himself as the Ming Martial King, and persuaded Yang Guang to dismiss his guards, including You Chuhong.
• Yang Guang and Yu Huatian discussed whether Yang Guang was an inept ruler or a tyrant, and Yu Huatian said Yang Guang had acted too impatiently for Great Sui’s foundations to bear the strain.
• Yang Guang defended his canal and campaigns against Goguryeo, admitted that his actions had been tyrannical, and accepted responsibility for his defeat.
• Yu Huatian said he had not come to kill Yang Guang and offered to help him keep Great Sui and pursue his ideals by taking a different approach.

Yu Huatian offered Yang Guang the chance to remain King of Sui under Ming's supremacy, and Yang Guang accepted after hearing that he might one day expand beyond the Divine Land. Great Sui surrendered to Ming, and Yu Huatian arrived in Luoyang to order the pacification of its territory and recognize Yuwen Chengdu.

• Yu Huatian offered Yang Guang the throne of Sui as a vassal king and explained that he would spare the Li Clan and give Li Yuan territory elsewhere.
• Yang Guang accepted Yu Huatian's terms, hoping Great Sui could grow beyond the Divine Land and eventually surpass Ming.
• Yuwen Huaji and his son surrendered Luoyang to Sun Chengzong without resistance, while Yang Lin regarded their surrender as betrayal.
• Yang Guang declared Great Sui's unconditional surrender to Ming, prompting unrest among its people and celebration among Ming's forces.
• Yu Huatian ordered Sun Chengzong to march to Chang'an, negotiate with Yang Guang, and quell unrest without indiscriminate slaughter.
• Yu Huatian identified the golden-armored Yuwen Chengdu as the Heavenly Venerable of Universal Thunder reincarnated.

Yu Huatian claimed Yuwen Chengdu as his follower and headed north to deal with the Li Clan, while Li Yuan's forces debated how to survive Ming's advance. The chapter ended when Li Yuan learned that a mysterious senior had arrived, giving him hope of a chance against Ming.

• Yu Huatian recruited Yuwen Chengdu, ordered Sun Chengzong to coordinate with Yang Guang, and took Yang Lin, Han Qianhu, Yuwen Chengdu, and the Jianghu Coalition Army north.
• Li Yuan and his allies gathered in Youzhou after Great Sui's fall and discussed whether to march south against Ming.
• Luo Yi proposed retreating to the Grasslands and subjugating the northern tribes, but Li Yuan's other commanders rejected the plan.
• Li Yuan told his worried allies to wait, hinting that they still had a chance.
• A young man announced that a senior had arrived, and Li Yuan eagerly ordered him invited inside.

Li Yuan’s masked senior, Di Shitian, returned and agreed to deal with Yu Huatian while the Li Clan and Great Sui’s hidden Jianghu masters confronted Ming’s other forces. The chapter ended with Jiang Ye warning Di Shitian that Yu Huatian had already brought down Union with the Dao experts.

• Li Shimin returned with Di Shitian, whom Li Yuan welcomed as the powerful ally who had secretly supported the Li Clan.
• Di Shitian dismissed Ming’s strength apart from Yu Huatian, while Li Shimin described the experts and Jianghu Coalition Army Yu Huatian had assembled.
• Jiang Ye, Mu Qingliu, Ning Daoqi, Heavenly Monk, and Dini arrived and revealed their strength and identities to Di Shitian.
• Di Shitian agreed to face Yu Huatian as the Great Sui factions prepared to handle Ming’s other experts.
• Jiang Ye warned Di Shitian that Yu Huatian had helped defeat two Union with the Dao experts at Jingyan Palace, surprising Di Shitian.

Yu Huatian led the Jianghu Coalition Army north to confront the Li Clan, whose ancient experts challenged him to a decisive battle. He chose eleven fighters to accompany him to the Qinling Mountains, where he also hoped to investigate the First Emperor’s hidden contingency.

• Yu Huatian told Jian Yue and Dongfang Bubai that he was heading to the Li Clan partly to find other Immortals and Gods reincarnated among its forces.
• Ma Jinliang delivered an urgent report that Jiang Ye, Mu Qingliu, Heavenly Monk, and Dini had appeared with the Li Clan and challenged Yu Huatian to battle.
• Ma Jinliang confirmed that none of the four had reached Union with the Dao, though Jiang Ye had entered its half-step realm, and listed the other Heavenly Being experts serving the Li Clan.
• Yu Huatian decided to meet the challenge with eleven fighters, naming Ye Gucheng, Ximen Chuixue, Yan Shisan, Lian Chengbi, A Fei, Guan Qi, Xiao Qiushui, and Li Chenzhou alongside himself, Jian Yue, and Dongfang Bubai.
• Yu Huatian revealed that the agreed battlefield was the Qinling Mountains, where he also intended to investigate the contingency left by the First Emperor.