Chapter Summaries

Huang Jiu pursued the immortal’s glazed-body fragments and killed two cultivators who challenged him, while Great Jin’s emperor ordered forces to retake the southern commanderies and sought the Upper Realm’s forgiveness. In Two Realms Village, Old Skeleton questioned Lü Bufan about his wish to stay, and Lü insisted that he cared about his friends regardless of his own prospects.

• Huang Jiu abandoned the largest glazed-body fragment to attack two cultivators, then killed both after they invoked the Mysterious Womb Gate and called him a sword immortal.
• A black cloud struck and briefly broke the barrier above Two-World Mountain before it closed again.
• The emperor of Great Jin ordered armies to retake the southern commanderies and asked the Four Great Immortal Sects to surround Two-World Mountain, then planned to beg forgiveness at the Ascension Platform.
• Sima Xiu learned that Consort Jie had brought pills to visit the emperor and quietly left as her sedan chair approached.
• Lü Bufan asked Old Skeleton to bring their companions and Big Black back, but Old Skeleton refused and warned that Two-World Mountain would soon be sealed off.
• Old Skeleton asked why Lü wanted to remain in Two Realms Village, and Lü said he wanted to care for his master and still worried about Liuzi and Lian'er.

Big Black returned wounded from fighting an immortal, and he and Old Skeleton discussed why they were watching over Lü Bufan, whose pure origin spiritual energy might draw out a hidden figure. After the upheaval in southern Great Jin was suppressed, Old Skeleton encouraged Lü Bufan to keep cultivating the Daoist Scripture and revealed that the mask he had inherited contained the Wei Family's Martial Scripture.

• Big Black returned to the Land God Temple badly exhausted, and Old Skeleton used his origin spiritual energy to help him recover.
• Big Black revealed Immortal Yunxia's immortal crystal and explained that Lü Bufan possessed a rare pure origin, so he and Old Skeleton planned to watch over him without deliberately shaping his path.
• Old Skeleton decided that Lü Bufan should be sent away once Mingxin and the others returned, while they prevented the conflicts around Two Realms Village from involving him.
• Great Jin's court and the Immortal Sects crushed the southern upheaval, and the Eleventh Guardian City took over the Twelfth Guardian City's holdings with support from two northern Immortal Sects.
• Old Skeleton questioned Lü Bufan about his Daoist Scripture cultivation and urged him to seek its meaning rather than abandon it.
• Old Skeleton found the Wei Family's Martial Scripture inside Village Head Shameless's mask and told Lü Bufan to try both martial cultivation and the Daoist path.

Lü Bufan demonstrated an uncanny grasp of the Wei Family’s Wandering Swordsmanship, while Old Skeleton and Master Ming questioned the motives behind the Wei Clan’s destruction and the latest political upheaval. The chapter ended with Bai Ye meeting Taihua Sect and Liu Clan leaders as they anticipated a new Immortal Venerable’s arrival and considered how to use it.

• Old Skeleton tested Lü Bufan’s understanding of the Wandering Swordsmanship, and Lü Bufan used gang qi to strike a pebble with true qi, astonishing him.
• Old Skeleton suspected Wei Wuchen had left a sword seed in Lü Bufan and wondered whether Liu Xian'er knew why Mount Zhilin had destroyed the Wei Clan.
• Guo'er departed with more than ten Upper Third Realm cultivators from the Wild Spirit Land, while Master Ming recognized Bai Ye’s effort to blame the Wild Spirit Land for the Southern Borderlands’ troubles.
• Huang Jiu and Han Wu returned to Master Ming, who gave Huang Jiu the broken Dustless Sword and asked Old Skeleton to examine it and forge a weapon for Lü Bufan.
• Bai Ye met Xu Yi and the Liu Clan elder, who discussed their losses, demanded a ten-year tax and tribute waiver, and expected news of a new Immortal Venerable within three days.

Bai Ye gained temporary full authority over civil appointments and security across the Southern Borderlands and nearby commanderies, while recognizing that the region’s factions would continue scheming within shared limits. Lü Bufan climbed toward the Nameless Ice Cave to repair his damaged cultivation, and after dispersing his Acquired Gang Qi, he discovered a way to endure the mountain’s cold.

• Bai Ye and Xu Yi discussed the Liu Clan, the redistribution of ruined factions’ lands, and the Taihua Sect’s role in rebuilding the Southern Borderlands.
• Bai Ye revealed that the imperial court had entrusted the Eleventh Guardian City with full temporary authority over civil appointments, pacification, and garrison duties across several regions.
• Xu Yi left, and Bai Ye told his disciple that Xu Yi would likely join forces with Elder Liu against him before describing the line that powerful factions would unite to defend.
• Old Skeleton directed Lü Bufan to climb toward the Nameless Ice Cave to repair his damaged meridians and dantian, warning that his Martial Warrior and Qi Refiner cultivation methods were clashing.
• Lü Bufan dispersed his remaining Acquired Gang Qi in the freezing mountain cold and used innate true qi to protect his dantian while rebuilding Gang Qi through his meridians.
• After enduring six hours of cold, Lü Bufan found he could remain on the mountain and resolved to keep climbing.

Lü Bufan survived the snowy mountain climb while Du Yuan, Huang Jiu, and Master Ming restored Huang Jiu’s flying sword. Old Skeleton agreed to shelter the remnant souls of Wild Spirit Land cultivators as they prepared to fight the immortals, and Two Realms Village decided to follow the Land God Temple to Three-Autumn Valley.

• Lü Bufan used spiritual True Qi and Martial Warrior Gang Qi to survive the snow and continue climbing toward the Ice Cave.
• Du Yuan put Huang Jiu’s Sword Cord into the furnace to repair his flying sword, while Master Ming helped Huang Jiu endure the pain of reforging their bond.
• Guo'er asked Old Skeleton to move Two Realms Village to Three-Autumn Valley as the immortals prepared to move against Two-World Mountain, and Old Skeleton agreed to shelter the Wild Spirit Land cultivators’ remnant souls in his peach tree.
• Luo Wuya reunited with Master Ming and Du Yuan, joked about his unrequited love for Lu Hanxin, and learned that her tears showed she cared for him.
• Master Ming asked Old Skeleton about moving the village, then declared that Two Realms Village would follow the Land God Temple wherever it went.

Lü Bufan began cultivating Wandering Swordsmanship in an ice cave, while Old Skeleton and the villagers prepared for a battle they expected to lose. During meditation, Lü Bufan glimpsed a vision of Two Realms Village being devastated, but Old Skeleton sealed his consciousness and left him undisturbed.

• Lü Bufan entered the ice cave, took crystals, and began meditating on the Ice Platform to practice Wandering Swordsmanship.
• Old Skeleton sent a mote of green light to Lü Bufan, which settled on his Baihui Acupoint, then spoke with the big black dog about the boy.
• Master Ming asked Old Skeleton about Lü Bufan, and Old Skeleton refused to explain his arrangements before warning that a losing war was coming.
• Master Ming agreed to make arrangements for the coming battle, while Old Skeleton told him to bring Luo Wuya back alive.
• Luo Wuya, Du Yuan, and Han Wu drank together as Huang Jiu and Guo'er discussed the villagers' decision to fight the Immortals.
• Lü Bufan dreamed of a battle that destroyed much of the mountain range and seemed to wipe out Two Realms Village, but green light sealed his consciousness and he returned to deep meditation.

Zhong Huan and his disciples discovered Lü Bufan frozen in an ice cave while mining ice soul stone, then debated whether to take him in or hand him over to the Immortal Sect. Lü Bufan realized his cultivation had fallen and wondered what had happened to his master and village.

• Zhong Huan led Zhong Duo'er, Feng Hu, and Liu Zhi into an ice cave, where they found ice soul stone and began mining it.
• Zhong Duo'er spotted a figure inside a massive block of ice, and Zhong Huan broke the ice open to reveal Lü Bufan.
• Zhong Huan and Feng Hu questioned Lü Bufan, who said he had lived with Old Blind Man in a village northeast of the mountain.
• Liu Zhi urged Zhong Huan to hand Lü Bufan over to the Immortal Sect, but Zhong Huan suspected the boy had been trained by hidden cultivators and feared the sect would kill him.
• Zhong Duo'er argued that they should take Lü Bufan in, while Lü Bufan overheard their discussion and wondered why his cultivation had weakened and what had happened to his village.

Zhong Huan’s party left the mountains after reporting an ice soul stone vein to Taihua Sect Cultivators, who took control of the discovery and promised them a share. At a mountain temple, Lü Bufan chose to stay with Zhong Huan’s group for now and resolved to live on and cultivate while hoping his masters had survived.

• Zhong Huan bribed the checkpoint soldiers and a Taihua Sect Cultivator with ice soul stones and silver so his party could pass, then followed the Cultivator to report the vein.
• Taihua Sect Cultivators took over the vein’s discovery, gave Zhong Huan a token for future payments, and warned him that his family would suffer if his report proved false.
• Zhong Huan led his party away from the checkpoint and told Lü Bufan that the area around Two-World Mountain had been devastated and occupied by the Immortal Sect and court forces.
• Lü Bufan wondered whether his masters had escaped into the Wild Spirit Land and reflected on the martial and cultivation teachings they had left him.
• Zhong Huan invited Lü Bufan to stay near the commandery city with the Vigorous Martial Gate, and Lü Bufan thanked him and promised to keep living well without seeking trouble.
• Zhong Huan asked Lü Bufan to demonstrate his punches so he could assess his Second Realm cultivation.

Lü Bufan joined Zhong Huan’s Vigorous Martial Gate as an attendant and traveled with the group toward Guangling Commandery. Their route took them through the ruined Huqi Town, where Lü Bufan revisited the graves of people who had helped him and saw how thoroughly the town had been devastated.

• Zhong Huan tested Lü Bufan’s fist technique, while a hidden Immortal Sect cultivator watched them and then departed after their conversation eased suspicion.
• Zhong Huan introduced Lü Bufan to Zhong Duo'er, Feng Hu, and Liu Zhi, and told them to conceal what had happened to him in the Ice Cave.
• The group set off on horseback, and Lü Bufan learned to ride after the horses reacted fearfully to him.
• At Huqi Town, Lü Bufan stopped to pay respects at the graves of an old beggar and an elderly couple who had helped him.
• Lü Bufan saw that Huqi Town had been devastated by rioting cultivators and refugees, then reunited with Zhong Huan at an inn courtyard.
• Zhong Huan gave Lü Bufan his pay and extra silver, and told Zhong Duo'er to help him buy proper clothes.

Lü Bufan and Zhong Duo'er searched Huqi Town for clothes, then Lü Bufan confronted the town’s brutal aftermath when he found Sun Xiaoliu torturing the former madam of Spring Splendor House. After Lü Bufan secretly killed her to stop the abuse, Zhong Huan revealed he had followed him and accepted him as kindhearted, while warning him to conceal his abilities and stay cautious in the jianghu.

• Lü Bufan and Zhong Duo'er bought clothes at a pawnshop in Huqi Town, where Duo'er showed the shopkeeper an ice soul stone but Lü Bufan refused to sell it.
• Lü Bufan recognized the former madam of Spring Splendor House as she begged for food, but Sun Xiaoliu and another hooligan dragged her away to abuse her.
• Lü Bufan explained to Duo'er that Sun Xiaoliu sought revenge because the madam had once lured his wife into Spring Splendor House, where a constable violated her.
• Lü Bufan followed the hooligans to Sun Xiaoliu’s courtyard and killed the madam with a pebble as they tortured her.
• Lü Bufan questioned whether Sun Xiaoliu and others were shaped into evildoers by the world’s cruelty, while Zhong Huan disclosed that he had followed him.
• Zhong Huan reassured Lü Bufan that he trusted him, then advised him to hide his kindness and abilities to survive in the jianghu.

Bai Ye visited Lü Bufan in the stable, explained his motives and the state of Two Realms Village, and directed him to learn Old Skeleton’s identity in Guangling Commandery. As Lü Bufan traveled north with the Vigorous Martial Gate, the Liu Clan prepared to sacrifice Liu Xian'er and Liu Xue'er to secure favor with a newly descending Immortal.

• Bai Ye told Lü Bufan that Two Realms Village’s elders had survived their severe wounds, while Big Black had entered the Wild Spirit Land to visit old acquaintances.
• Bai Ye defended the upheaval he had caused, urged Lü Bufan to follow his own path, and said Guangling Commandery held secrets about Old Skeleton’s identity.
• Lü Bufan agreed not to return to Two Realms Village until he could help his masters, and Bai Ye departed at dawn.
• Lü Bufan and four companions from the Vigorous Martial Gate set out north for Guangling Commandery, traveling through ruined villages and deserted towns.
• The Liu Clan Ancestor ordered Liu Xian'er and Liu Xue'er to wear mourning clothes and take their lives after the new Immortal descended, unless the Immortal chose to spare them.
• Liu Xian'er accused the Liu Clan of discarding her and Liu Xue'er after using them, then led her frightened niece toward the rear courtyard with four Attendants.

Zhong Huan brought Lü Bufan to the Vigorous Martial Gate in Guangling Commandery, where Lü joined as an Attendant and met Zhao Ping. The group then discussed how to protect the sect’s share in an ice soul ore mine, and Lü proposed negotiating with Immortal Master Bai directly rather than involving Bai’s powerful backer.

• Zhong Huan bribed the city gate guards and used the Taihua Sect’s silver waist token to obtain Lü Bufan’s Official Travel Permit at the Guardian Office.
• Zhong Huan brought Lü Bufan to the Vigorous Martial Gate, where Lü met Zhao Ping, signed a nonbinding Attendant contract, and offered incense to the sect’s dead.
• Duo'er learned that Old Master Song and six members of his family had died amid the unrest, then Zhong Huan warned her to watch what she said near Mount Zhilin.
• Liu Zhi urged Zhong Huan to seek help from Immortal Master Bai’s master to secure the Vigorous Martial Gate’s share of the ice soul ore mine.
• Lü Bufan advised Zhong Huan to negotiate only with Immortal Master Bai, giving Bai an incentive to protect the sect’s interests without drawing in a potentially hostile powerful faction.

Lü Bufan received a mysterious heavy sword and spiritual armor from the Vigorous Martial Gate, then asked its old Sect Master about treating his master’s injured senior. He learned that Land God Temples had been forbidden and their gods slaughtered, leaving him wondering about Old Skeleton and the temple in Two Realms Village.

• Duo'er and Zhong Huan took Lü Bufan to the Secret Vault, where touching a heavy sword stirred the bead in his dantian and awakened it.
• Lü Bufan chose the heavy sword, which had been found near Two-World Mountain, and accepted a piece of Bamboo-Silk Armor from Zhong Huan.
• Lü Bufan visited the old Sect Master, who warned him to keep his master Ming’s Seventh Realm cultivation and identity secret.
• Lü Bufan asked about skilled healers for his master’s injured senior, whom he said was the keeper of a Land God Temple.
• The old Sect Master explained that the Immortals had slaughtered the Land Gods and banned Land God Temples throughout Central Earth, prompting Lü Bufan to wonder who Old Skeleton was.

Lü Bufan pondered the mysteries of his heavy sword before preparing to escort supplies to the Twelfth Guardian City. As Zhao Ping introduced him to two retired Vigorous Martial Gate veterans, Sima Xiu and the Prince of Linhe discussed the court’s plans and the coming descent of the Immortals.

• Lü Bufan wondered whether his heavy sword was connected to Big Black after it reacted to the mark inside him, then went to eat with Liu Zhi.
• Sima Xiu and the Prince of Linhe discussed Bai Ye, the court’s wager, the threat of Two-World Mountain, and their plan to build the Ascension Platform; the Prince gave Sima Xiu a Spirit Immortal Nine Splendors Pill.
• The Vigorous Martial Gate accepted a Taihua Sect supply-escort commission, and Zhao Ping assigned Lü Bufan and Feng Hu to the journey while Liu Zhi stayed to help Zhong Huan.
• Zhao Ping advised Lü Bufan not to rush his path and took him to visit old friends Qi Fengyuan and Sun Dameng, former Vigorous Martial Gate attendants injured in service.

Lü Bufan heard how the old Sect Master Zhao Ping and his comrades had failed to protect Magistrate Zhou’s family from the Immortal Sects, and learned why the Vigorous Martial Gate felt compelled to appease the Taihua Sect. When Qingming arrived seeking ice soul stones, he promised fair payment and protection for the Vigorous Martial Gate, leaving Zhong Huan astonished by his generosity.

• Zhao Ping recounted how Martial Warriors tried to escort Magistrate Zhou’s family after Zhou was stripped of office and killed himself, but Zhou’s wife and mother died during the journey.
• Lü Bufan and Liu Zhi discussed the Vigorous Martial Gate’s need to preserve its share of the ice soul ore profits and the Immortal Sects’ power over the court.
• Qingming arrived at the Vigorous Martial Gate after sensing Bai Jiu nearby and learned that the gate had discovered an ice soul ore deposit.
• Bai Jiu explained that mountain sects had skimmed the Vigorous Martial Gate’s rightful share, and Qingming ordered him to demand the missing profits from Left Cloud Mountain.
• Qingming accepted Zhong Huan’s three ice soul stones, promised to buy them and protect the gate’s full share, then gave Zhong Huan a supreme-grade spirit weapon.

After the Vigorous Martial Gate agreed to work with Immortal Master Qingming, Lü Bufan and Feng Hu traveled to the Taihua Sect to collect an escort assignment. They were ordered to take prisoners to Dantu Mountain instead of supplies, leaving Lü Bufan suspecting the sect had been targeted over the ice soul ore deal.

• Qingming gave the Vigorous Martial Gate the ice soul stone deal and examined Lü Bufan’s heavy sword, warning that it might be connected to the ghost and living corpse race.
• Lü Bufan and Feng Hu discussed the sect’s reluctance to side with immortal sects and their uncertain plans for the future.
• Feng Hu led Lü Bufan and the escort party to the Taihua Sect, where they bowed before the Investiture Stele and reported to Young Immortal Master Bai.
• Young Immortal Master Bai told them their assignment had changed from escorting supplies to taking prisoners to Dantu Mountain for compulsory labor within seven days.
• Lü Bufan suspected that Qingming’s enemies or those who wanted the ice soul ore profits had arranged the troublesome assignment.

Feng Hu, Lü Bufan, and young Immortal Master Bai took charge of escorting 315 prisoners to Dantu Mountain, where they faced a dangerous five-hundred-li journey with too few guards. After calming the prisoners and organizing the chains, the party prepared to depart, while Attendant Liu warned Feng Hu that he might have to use lethal force to prevent a revolt.

• Feng Hu sent an escort runner to summon reinforcements as his party traveled toward White Tiger Pass, and young Immortal Master Bai joined them as an accompanying overseer.
• At White Tiger Pass, Taihua Sect cultivators handed over 315 prisoners and withdrew, leaving Feng Hu's small escort party to deliver them to Dantu Mountain within seven days.
• A prisoner described Dantu Mountain's mines and herb gardens as deadly places where prisoners became laborers or medicine testers, and Immortal Sect guards whipped prisoners who reacted.
• Lü Bufan bribed a martial guard and invoked Immortal Master Qingming to stop the guards from further provoking the prisoners.
• Lü Bufan urged Feng Hu to reorganize the prisoners, and young Immortal Master Bai reassured them with promises of work and a possible pardon.
• Feng Hu assigned himself to clear the route while Lü Bufan and Attendant Liu took the rear, and Attendant Liu warned Feng Hu to be ready to kill prisoners who caused trouble.

Lü Bufan helped an injured prisoner and arranged an ox cart to carry the weakest captives, then gave provisions to refugees hiding in a valley. As the convoy camped for the night without the Sect Master, Attendant Liu rode off to find him, leaving Lü Bufan in charge of the rear.

• Lü Bufan stopped a guard from striking an injured prisoner and learned the man had lost his family in the fighting.
• Lü Bufan and Feng Hu questioned Wu Ya, then paid him to carry sick prisoners in his ox cart toward Dantu Mountain.
• Lü Bufan gave dry provisions to refugees hiding in a cave and advised them they could reach the outskirts of Taihua Sect territory in two days.
• Feng Hu settled the exhausted convoy in a valley for the night and discussed how to contact the missing Sect Master.
• Attendant Liu rode out to find the Sect Master while Lü Bufan stayed behind to oversee the prisoners and guards.