Chapter Summaries

Meng Li learned that Hushan Sword Gate guarded Heaven's Heart and that Joy-in-Death Tower had learned of the secret. Qu Zhoufu showed him the Star Worm's failing palace and revealed that Meng Li was their new hope.

• Meng Li argued with Qu Zhoufu over the sect's duty to guard Heaven's Heart and refused to sacrifice himself or Yang Yan for it.
• Meng Li searched the library and cavern for a way to understand or undo the Star-Embracing Formation, but found no way through it.
• Qu Zhoufu told Meng Li that a sect traitor had sold the secret to Joy-in-Death Tower and warned that outsiders would covet what the sect guarded.
• Qu Zhoufu guided Meng Li into the Star Worm through a bronze passage, revealing the vast palace within its body.
• Meng Li saw that the Star Worm was decaying and that a white Jade Pendant remained in the palace, while Qu Zhoufu said the traitor had already taken what he wanted.
• Qu Zhoufu explained that he kept feeding the Star Worm because it was repairing itself and declared Meng Li their new hope.

Pei Ye witnessed Meng Li’s trial of the extraordinary scripture and learned that Qu Zhoufu planned to sacrifice himself to protect young Yan. After receiving Piao Qing’s portrait of the youth he sought, Pei Ye studied a Nether Immortal sword manual with Ming Qitian, who began explaining its cryptic verse.

• Pei Ye watched Meng Li absorb the putty-like substance in the Ancient Pendant and undergo a trial.
• Meng Li rejected Qu Zhoufu’s plan to stage their conflict and said Qu Zhoufu should save young Yan if he insisted on dying.
• Pei Ye told Black Cat what he had seen, then received Piao Qing’s letter and a portrait of the unknown youth.
• Pei Ye studied the first half of a Nether Immortal sword manual with Ming Qitian, who explained that its tranquil depth was key to understanding its intent.
• Pei Ye described Shang Huaitong’s mistaken attempt to complete the sword art, and Ming Qitian began explaining the ancient meaning of its final verse.

Pei Ye learned that the Nether Immortal Sword’s verses called him to study the essence of fungi, while Ming Qitian urged him to build his own Sword Ladder and overcome himself. The chapter then shifted to Zhang Siche investigating the Intent Preservation Scripture’s suspected appearances across generations, ending as he introduced a new lead in Linan County.

• Ming Qitian explained that the sword verses’ “nature and destiny” referred to the essence of fungi and that Pei Ye should observe them in the wild.
• Pei Ye asked about Ming Qitian’s Sword Ladder, and she urged him to find where his heart stirred and construct his own path in the Sword Dao.
• Pei Ye admitted that revenge had made his former interest in sword arts feel empty, and Ming Qitian told him he must defeat himself before defeating his enemy.
• Zhang Siche reviewed historical cases that he suspected were connected to the Intent Preservation Scripture, including Crown Prince Zhaowen’s apparent return from death and Lady Wei’s supposed younger sister.
• Zhang Siche linked the Scripture’s trail to the previous dynasty’s imperial family and the Mount Tai Medicine Lodge, then told his clerk about a lead in Linan County.

Yue Muzhou investigated the death of Bai Feiping and the lead connecting the Intent Preservation Scripture to Zhu Lianwo and a mysterious Mangshan Daoist Physician. In Lishui, he discovered that Zhu Lianwo was already being mourned as dead, leaving him facing another case of hide-and-seek.

• Zhang Siche told Fu Zaiting that Zhu Lianwo claimed to have secretly raised Wei Zhaojie's orphaned daughter and that the Platform was revisiting reports about a Mangshan Daoist Physician.
• Zhang Siche revealed that Bai Feiping had died after the Platform sent him an inquiry, and he assigned Yue Muzhou to pursue the case and deliver a letter to Crane Inspector Li.
• Yue Muzhou traveled to Lishui and learned that the white ribbons at the inn marked a local funeral custom.
• Yue Muzhou entered the inn and found a memorial tablet for Zhu Lianwo, the seventh leader of Shenxiao, then cursed that the investigation had become another game of hide-and-seek.

Pei Ye and Ming Qitian arrived at Kongtong, where the sect prepared for a suspected attack by Joy-in-Death Tower during the Iron Pine Sword Gathering. As Yan Caiyue faced Kong Wen in a match watched by the Bright Sword Master, the chapter left the duel about to begin.

• Yan Caiyue argued with Zhang Jingbi before the disciples spotted Ming Qitian approaching Beyond the Human World.
• Ming Qitian greeted the waiting disciples and introduced Pei Ye, who arrived carrying Heart-Slaying Glaze and a black cat.
• Gan Zifeng told Pei Ye that Kongtong had gathered its disciples and activated the Five-Peak Formation to guard against Joy-in-Death Tower.
• Gan Zifeng identified Yan Caiyue as a likely target and brought Pei Ye to watch his match at the Iron Pine Sword Gathering.
• Yan Caiyue and Kong Wen took their places on the lotus platform as Ming Qitian and Ji Changyun watched.

Pei Ye watched Yan Caiyue defeat Kong Wen before Ji Changyun began a sword exchange with Ming Qitian, whose Sword Dao had drawn the entire gathering’s attention. As Ji Changyun unleashed the overwhelming Sword Sea Chapter, Pei Ye remained focused on Joy-in-Death Tower and the possibility of investigating Hushan Sword Gate’s past.

• Yan Caiyue defeated Kong Wen by unleashing a restrained strike after Kong Wen’s strength began to fail, then Zhang Jingbi left before their scheduled match.
• Guan Qianyan asked Pei Ye who would win, and he guessed that the sturdier fighter would prevail just before Yan Caiyue won.
• Ji Changyun and Ming Qitian began their long-awaited sword exchange, and Ji Changyun explained that he would use one strike he had developed over decades.
• Ji Changyun unleashed the Sword Sea Chapter, a vast sword strike that made the gathering fear the sky and mountains were being overwhelmed.
• Ming Qitian glanced at Pei Ye amid the strike, while Pei Ye later declined Kong Lanting’s request for help interpreting a line in the Pine-Mist Sword Chant and continued watching Yan Caiyue.

Ming Qitian and Ji Changyun exchanged two extraordinary sword strokes, and Pei Ye realized he wanted to learn the sword from her. At the Iron Pine Sword Gathering, Yan Caiyue pressed Zhang Jingbi into a brutal contest of strength and knocked him flying without disarming him.

• Ji Changyun unleashed a sea-like sword stroke, and Ming Qitian contained it in a cup-shaped stroke she called the Sword Treatise.
• Ming Qitian and Ji Changyun ended their exchange, and Pei Ye understood her silent question as an offer to teach him the sword.
• Kong Lanting told Pei Ye about Zhang Jingbi’s difficult circumstances and his lack of anyone able to teach him Phoenix Mountain Cry.
• Pei Ye and Guan Qianyan predicted Yan Caiyue would defeat Zhang Jingbi, and Yan Caiyue opened the match with a powerful White Rainbow Chapter stroke.
• Yan Caiyue repeatedly attacked Zhang Jingbi’s sword, and his final clash sent Zhang Jingbi flying while leaving his sword in his hand.

During the Martial Trial, Yan Caiyue gained the upper hand over Zhang Jingbi, but an unidentified sword strike severed Yan Caiyue’s arm and wounded his abdomen, shattering his Meridian Tree. The Law Enforcement Hall took control of the scene and began investigating the suspicious attack.

• Zhang Jingbi surprised Yan Caiyue with the inherited move Broken Staff Hears the Phoenix, but Yan Caiyue recovered and turned the duel back in his favor.
• Pei Ye explained to Kong Lanting how Pine Growing in the Mist should flow with fresh, living motion, then paused as the fight’s outcome shifted.
• Yan Caiyue pressed Zhang Jingbi toward defeat and prepared a humiliating finishing strike aimed at Zhang Jingbi’s sword.
• An unknown sword strike severed Yan Caiyue’s sword arm and pierced his lower abdomen, while a blast of palm force knocked Zhang Jingbi away.
• Gan Zifeng secured the area for the Law Enforcement Hall, and Pei Ye saw Xu Shang standing nearby as Yan Caiyue’s elder relative knelt beside him.

After Yan Caiyue was gravely injured in a sword match, Pei Ye investigated the suspicious strike and considered whether a hidden force or a Living Sword had influenced Zhang Jingbi. He questioned Zhang Jingbi in the Law Enforcement Hall and found that Zhang Jingbi had not intended to cripple Yan Caiyue.

• Gan Zifeng announced that Yan Caiyue was out of danger, ordered the sword discussions to resume after an hour, and sent Zhang Jingbi and Yan Caiyue to separate halls for treatment and investigation.
• Pei Ye told Gan Zifeng and Zhao Cheng that Zhang Jingbi's abrupt, unusually precise strike seemed beyond his skill and might have involved an external power.
• Kong Lanting suggested that a Living Sword might have influenced Zhang Jingbi, recalling a tale about hidden Demon Swords in Kongtong Mountain.
• Pei Ye visited Zhang Jingbi in a stone cell beneath the Law Enforcement Hall and learned that Zhang Jingbi had wanted to win but had not intended to cripple Yan Caiyue.

Pei Ye discovered that Zhang Jingbi’s sword may hold a clue to his inexplicable strike, but Zhang Jingbi could not explain where he found it. Pei Ye asked Xu Shang to meet him on Colored Mist Peak, while Crane Inspector Wu began investigating the Jade Pavilion’s ledgers.

• Pei Ye noticed that the sword in Lone Prison lacked the Peace Knot and tassel ring from Zhang Jingbi’s stage sword, and suspected it had been replaced.
• Xi Tianji explained that Zhang Jingbi had switched to his Practice Sword himself, and Zhang Jingbi said he had used it for nearly two years and found it somewhere on the peak.
• Pei Ye chose not to accuse Zhang Jingbi of lying and decided to investigate the sword’s origins.
• During questioning, Xu Shang denied that she had caused Zhang Jingbi’s strike and asked whether he would be released if there was no further evidence; Pei Ye asked to speak with her on Colored Mist Peak the next day.
• Crane Inspector Wu arrived at the Jade Pavilion and demanded its public and private ledgers dating back to the twelfth month of the Renxu Year.

Wu Dong questioned Wei Mingfu about Jade Pavilion’s Heart Amber dealings, while Li Piaoqing and Shen Yao traced missing Heart Amber in Bowang. Pei Ye learned that the Edict Diagram was eroding his mind, then used the Jade Pendant to witness memories of a young man from the Hushan Sword Gate, whose later identity remained unclear.

• Wu Dong confronted Wei Mingfu with evidence of his meeting with Qiao Changyue and demanded the Jade Pavilion’s Heart Amber records, but Wei Mingfu claimed they had been burned.
• Shen Yao confirmed that Yu Chaocai had bought five liang of Heart Amber, while Li Piaoqing concluded that it had been exchanged for Snow-Collapsing and removed from the treasury records.
• Li Piaoqing wrote to Wu Hejian and Pei Ye about the missing Heart Amber and asked Pei Ye for further guidance on Flying Feather Immortal.
• Pei Ye suffered the Edict Diagram’s erosion, and Black Cat warned that his own damaged mind threatened to let the Immortal Lord descend; Pei Ye said he would kill him first.
• Pei Ye used the Jade Pendant to witness memories of a young man training at the Hushan Sword Gate, where he struggled to master Snow-Collapsing and refused to compromise.
• Years later, Qu Zhoufu practiced with a saber while the man watched, and Qu Zhoufu asked what had earned him a reputation in the Prefectural City.

Pei Ye watched Qu Zhu uncover why Hushan Sword Gate had stayed hidden and why its leaders were wasting away, despite his master’s pleas to stop. After identifying a formation around Lake Mountain, Qu Zhu’s findings left him increasingly silent and afraid.

• Qu Zhu learned that Qu Zhoufu had been chosen as sect leader despite Qu Zhu meeting the requirements, and he vowed to investigate.
• Qu Zhoufu tried to comfort Qu Zhu and explained the ancestral injunction that Hushan Sword Gate must not leave Lake Mountain.
• Qu Zhu searched the library and questioned his master, discovering the old man’s true qi was being drained and that Zhoufu faced the same fate.
• Qu Zhu traced the sect’s hidden secret to a formation surrounding Lake Mountain.
• Qu Zhu’s calculations began to reveal something that filled him with disbelief and fear.

Pei Ye witnessed Qu Zhu secretly dismantle the formation guarding the [Buried Star Tomb] and reach its immortal treasures, only for one of them to overwhelm him when he touched it. As Qu Zhu collapsed, the entire hall began to scrape and shift.

• Qu Zhu studied the Star Worm’s annual movements and secretly altered its formation so he could enter the space it guarded.
• Qu Zhu entered the bronze hall and read the inscription describing how saber and sword could reveal the tomb’s hidden treasures.
• Qu Zhu used [Illuminating the Nether] to open the artifact and found the dark substance and the Bead inside.
• Qu Zhu touched the dark substance, which bit his finger and left him kneeling in agony as blood flowed from his seven orifices.
• Pei Ye heard countless cold scrapes coming from throughout the hall as a new change began.

Qu Zhu escaped the Star Worm with his master's help, but his master died and Qu Zhu was expelled from the Hushan Sword Gate. Years later, Wu Dong exposed the Jade Pavilion's falsified Heart Amber accounts and ordered the establishment sealed while the Immortal Platform traced its silver.

• Qu Zhu found the Star Worm moving inside the temple and failed to reach the luminous pearl behind an invisible barrier.
• Qu Zhu's master rescued him from the Star Worm, but was grievously wounded and died after they escaped.
• Qu Zhu challenged Qu Zhoufu over the Hushan Sword Gate's mission at the master's grave, then was expelled and left Lake Mountain in shackles.
• Wu Dong inspected the Jade Pavilion's secret vault and reviewed Wei Mingfu's reconstructed Heart Amber ledger.
• Wu Dong showed that the Jade Pavilion's purchases and revenues contradicted the ledger, accused it of sending Heart Amber to a fixed bulk buyer, and ordered it sealed.

Wu Dong and Sui Zaihua defeated the Joy-in-Death Tower’s masked guardians beneath the Lotus-Planting Tower and discovered Hua Wanquan’s corpse. They found a hollow space behind the Dragon-Severing Stone wall, which Wu Dong began to cut open.

• Wu Dong broke into the Lotus-Planting Tower and descended to its seventh level after Hua Wanquan invited him there.
• Wu Dong found Hua Wanquan dead and was confronted by two masked Body-Gathering Realm fighters.
• Wu Dong killed the white-masked fighter with Jade Tiger and Silk-Tether, then was badly wounded by the remaining fighter.
• Sui Zaihua arrived and killed the uncolored-masked fighter, then warned Wu Dong about the name Qu Zhu.
• Wu Dong examined the rough wall behind the stone seat, determined it was hollow, and began cutting into the Dragon-Severing Stone.

Wu Dong and Sui Zaihua uncovered clues about the Joy-in-Death Tower’s hidden leadership and Sui Zaihua recounted his history with Qu Zhu. At Kongtong Mountain, Pei Ye watched Qu Zhu return to his master’s grave after seven years and speak with Qu Zhoufu about his years away and his plans.

• Sui Zaihua explained that the Joy-in-Death Tower’s four Play Masks represented [Sima], [Sun], [Liu], and [Cao], and Wu Dong described how Qiao Changyue had directed the Jade Pavilion’s heart amber to the Tower.
• Sui Zaihua warned that the figure Wu Dong had met might not have been the true Lord of the Mask, then recalled how he had first encountered Qu Zhu in Bowang and watched him rise in the local officialdom.
• Wu Dong and Sui Zaihua broke through the stone wall and found an empty hall containing a skeleton and an unsheathed longsword.
• Pei Ye, despite his exhaustion, used the Jade Pendant to watch Qu Zhu return to his master’s grave after seven years and burn spirit money there.
• Qu Zhoufu arrived and cleared grass from the grave while Qu Zhu said he might not return, described his years in Yu Chaocai’s city, and spoke of making his move.

Qu Zhu told Qu Zhoufu that he could not unravel the Buried Star Tomb without the bead and divine powers, while Sui Zaihua and Qu Zhu traveled with Yu Chaocai’s convoy through snowbound Great Kongtong. After Sui Zaihua searched for missing scouts and the convoy resumed its journey, it reached the entrance to Heavenly Tides Valley, where those at the front stopped to discuss the route ahead.

• Qu Zhoufu urged Qu Zhu to abandon his obsession with the Buried Star Tomb, and Qu Zhu said he understood that mortal effort alone could not break its barrier.
• At Clear Mirror Lake, Wu Dong examined a masked corpse’s belongings and found a jade brush that needed no ink and a short note, while Sui Zaihua recalled the party’s journey south twenty years earlier.
• During a heavy snowfall in Great Kongtong, Yu Chaocai chose to press on, and Qu Zhu and Sui Zaihua traveled with the convoy into the mountains.
• When two Kongtong scouts failed to return, Sui Zaihua went with two disciples to follow their markers toward Great Heavenly Tides, then returned to camp.
• The convoy set off again the next morning, and Qu Zhu and Sui Zaihua discussed their possible careers as they approached Heavenly Tides Valley.
• At the valley entrance, the convoy stopped while the people at the front discussed what to do next.

Sui Zaihua recounted the ambush that destroyed the convoy in the Great Heavenly Tides and how he fought the Joy-in-Death Tower assassin before returning to the slaughter. The account ended with him revealing that his heart lay on the right, though he said that was not what saved his life.

• Sui Zaihua noticed that the markers in the valley did not match and discovered that the two Kongtong scouts had taken another route.
• Sui Zaihua followed the scouts’ tracks, found their bodies, and killed a black-robed Joy-in-Death Tower member who used fire-controlling True Qi.
• Sui Zaihua returned to find three enemies massacring the convoy, while Ji Changcun and Su Xuchun fought the strongest attacker.
• Sui Zaihua reached Yu Chaocai with Qu Zhu, but an unfamiliar colleague stabbed Sui Zaihua through the chest and killed Yu Chaocai.
• Sui Zaihua later told Wu Dong that he had been born with his heart on the right, but insisted that this was not what saved his life.

Sui Zaihua told Wu Dong how he survived Qu Zhu’s attack and proposed that Qu Zhu became the Joy-in-Death Tower’s hidden Lord of the Mask. Pei Ye then witnessed Qu Zhu use sixty-eight swords to recreate an immortal’s array and open the way into the divine hall, where its guardian unleashed a terrifying attack.

• Sui Zaihua recounted surviving the attack that killed his companions, investigating Qu Zhu, and eventually killing Qiao Changyue.
• Sui Zaihua told Wu Dong that Qu Zhu may have become the Joy-in-Death Tower’s hidden Lord of the Mask, and Wu Dong sent his confidential conjecture in a message.
• Pei Ye watched Qu Zhu return to Lake Mountain’s valley with three masked members of the Joy-in-Death Tower after ten years away.
• Qu Zhu arranged sixty-eight swords into an array that formed a flowing Sword Serpent beneath the starlight.
• Qu Zhu used the array to open a passage into the divine hall, where the Star Worm sensed the intruders and unleashed a tremendous wind.

Qu Zhu defeated the Star Worm and recovered the Heart of the Western Court, while Sima revealed Joy-in-Death Tower’s plan to pursue the Great Liang path to immortality. Pei Ye learned how Qu Zhu had prepared the swords that brought down the worm, then visited Zhang Jingbi’s courtyard and discovered Jingbi had wanted to use one of Mei Qing’s swords.

• Qu Zhu reached the dais and destroyed the Star Worm with the sixty-eight swords he had prepared over ten years.
• Sima took the Heart of the Western Court and explained that Joy-in-Death Tower intended to pursue the Great Liang path to immortality rather than claim Jianglou’s Immortal Authority.
• Black Cat explained to Pei Ye how Qu Zhu had used heaven-and-earth bestowal and a landscape-spanning formation to make the swords part of the Star Worm.
• Xu Shang visited Pei Ye, and he asked her about Zhang Jingbi’s swords and his connection to Mei Qing.
• Xu Shang showed Pei Ye Jingbi’s courtyard, where he found old swords from Mei Qing’s tower and learned Jingbi had often gone to his father’s tower with red eyes.