Chapter Summaries

An old man restored Zhu Gaoyang’s human appearance, then released the monstrous power in his heart and sent him toward Fenghuai to seek what his divine master wanted. At the County Office, Xing Zhi warned that the Immortal Lord might attack Fenghuai and demanded Vice Prefect Xu Weizhou fulfill his duty, while Pei Ye left the meeting and found clerks gathered beneath a pear tree.

• The old man showed Zhu Gaoyang a vision of the devastation he could cause, then said he could offer him a chance to escape that fate.
• The old man transformed Zhu Gaoyang’s body and buried the spectral blue substance inside his heart, but then released it and sent Zhu Gaoyang toward Fenghuai under its control.
• Xing Zhi told Xu Weizhou that the awakened seed could grow stronger by devouring people and warned that it might come to Fenghuai.
• Xu Weizhou argued that help from the Divine Capital would arrive soon, but Xing Zhi ordered him to lure Qiongqi away and rebuked him for expecting Sword Master Ming to take his place.
• Pei Ye left the officials and, while carrying hot water across the courtyard, found county and prefectural clerks gathered beneath a pear tree and asked what they were doing.

Pei Ye learned that the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord had descended to destroy an unknown threat, while the old man revealed that he could help Pei Ye obtain Endowed Fortune. The black cat warned that the Immortal Lord would soon destroy everything if he failed to find his target, as the Firewood-Cang Mountains were consumed by a blue catastrophe.

• Pei Ye cared for the old man and asked who had tortured him, promising to kill the culprit someday.
• Pei Ye told the old man that Endowed Fortune could restore a Dantian Seed, and the old man said obtaining the martial art could be done.
• The black cat told Pei Ye that the Immortal Lord had ordered his own descent to destroy an unknown threat and would soon devastate the region if he could not find it.
• The black cat argued that letting the Immortal Lord achieve his goal would be worse than allowing him to destroy all of Bowang Prefecture.
• In the Firewood-Cang Mountains, blue Spores consumed the ecosystem until a decree caused the entire blue domain to melt and gather into one substance.
• The Immortal Platform later discovered the devastation, and officials in the Divine Capital granted two elderly scholars noble ranks and access to the archives.

Pei Ye and the black cat organized a search for an object the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord was pursuing, using strange hosts as clues. As Pei Ye investigated the north bridgehead, Shang Lang intercepted a possessed dog that had stolen something from a jewelry shop.

• The black cat told Pei Ye to follow the movements of the Immortal Lord’s searching hosts and take the object before the Lord arrived.
• Pei Ye reassured the old man, then joined Xing Zhi, Shang Lang, and prefectural experts as they divided Fenghuai into search areas.
• Pei Ye chose the north bridgehead and recognized Uncle Guang walking toward the martial school.
• Shang Lang spotted a girl being dragged into a jewelry shop by a large black dog, which grabbed an object from the display and attacked her.
• Shang Lang caught the dog by its jaws, shielded the girl from its changing form, and offered to pay for the damage.

Xing Zhi and the others compared three clues linked to the creature’s targets, while Pei Ye and the black cat followed another infected host to the martial arts school. Pei Ye stopped Master Huang from interfering as the black cat pursued the host inside, and the chapter ended with the schoolchildren recognizing Pei Ye as the apprentice who had killed a Seventh Growth realm villain.

• Shang Lang killed the spiked dog, took its wooden bead, and learned from the shopkeeper that it was a Yellowwood Dragon-Phoenix Bead.
• Zheng Zhao found the infected old caretaker at the Zhao Family Manor, killed him as he transformed, and took a martial arts book back to the County Office.
• Wang Yunzhang’s target charged Ming Qitian, and Xu Weizhou pinned it down as it began to transform; Ming Qitian returned to the County Office, while Xu Weizhou followed her.
• Xing Zhi considered whether Ming Qitian herself could be the thing the Immortal Lord wanted destroyed, while Black Chi explained that the three clues could point toward a target in different ways.
• Pei Ye and the black cat followed the creature to the martial arts school, where Pei Ye held Master Huang back and the cat went after the straw-hatted host.
• Master Huang told the children that Pei Ye had once been the school’s most gifted apprentice, and they reacted with excitement at recognizing him.

Pei Ye left Master Huang’s home with the manuscript and questioned whether stopping Him justified sacrificing Bowang Prefecture, while Xi Wuchou escaped the Prince of Zhenbei’s torture chamber and chose to spend his remaining strength killing a cruel mistress and servant. At the County Office, Xing Zhi weighed the clues about Ming Qitian and considered sending her away as a way to protect Fenghuai.

• Pei Ye took Master Huang’s copied manuscript, reminded him that officers would handle the room, and left with the black cat; Master Huang found Zhengguang reduced to ash.
• Pei Ye asked the black cat whether stopping Him required sacrificing Bowang Prefecture, and it told him he might see Him that day before urging him to study the manuscript.
• Xi Wuchou used the trace of true qi preserved in his immortal eye to kill his torturer, escape the chamber, and find food and water in a kitchen.
• Xi Wuchou encountered a mistress and servant beating and stabbing a young woman, then killed both with a leaf despite knowing the choice could ruin his chance to escape.
• Xing Zhi studied the bead and booklet at the County Office and considered sending Ming Qitian away to thwart the Immortal Lord’s scheme and protect Fenghuai.

Xing Zhi asked Ming Qitian to take refuge from the approaching enemy, but Ming Qitian calmly chose to stay and fight. When a powerful Frost Wraith attacked, Ming Qitian subdued it, and Xing Zhi realized it was Zhu Gaoyang; Ming Qitian agreed to spare him after sensing that his Mindscape Realm remained.

• Xing Zhi found Ming Qitian reading and urged her to take refuge in the prefectural capital, but Ming Qitian said she would fight whoever she encountered.
• An old man in a wheelchair offered to teach Ming Qitian the state of “Buddha Regards Me,” just as a fierce wind approached.
• Xing Zhi tried to restrain the attacker with spells, but Ming Qitian struck it down with Heart-Slaying Glaze.
• Xing Zhi recognized the powerful Frost Wraith as Zhu Gaoyang and begged Ming Qitian not to kill him.
• Ming Qitian said she had not intended to kill Zhu Gaoyang and that his Mindscape Realm still existed.

Xu Weizhou watched the monster enter Fenghuai, then was caught by a far larger creature that emerged from the forest. The scaled creature absorbed him, leaving his robes and sword behind.

• Xu Weizhou hid on the city wall, planning to avoid danger while still claiming credit for facing the enemy.
• A vicious lizard-like monster leapt onto the gate tower and entered Fenghuai, leaving Xu Weizhou too frightened to follow.
• After waiting without hearing a battle, Xu Weizhou saw a white-robed figure rise into the air.
• A gigantic creature tore through the forest toward the city and seized Xu Weizhou in its scaled claw.
• The creature turned Xu Weizhou into liquid and absorbed him, leaving only his robes and sword.

Ming Qitian confronted the Immortal Lord above Fenghuai and used the Great White sword domain to cut it off from heaven and earth. The Immortal Lord overwhelmed her with one punch, but the chapter ended as the shattered sword domain became a storm of razor-sharp Sword Qi around it.

• The Immortal Lord towered over Fenghuai and prepared to attack the town, but Ming Qitian swept in and struck it with a powerful wind technique to draw it away.
• Ming Qitian activated the Great White sword domain, severing the Immortal Lord from heaven and earth and launching a Commoner's Sword strike.
• The Immortal Lord abandoned its other abilities and charged at Ming Qitian with overwhelming speed.
• Ming Qitian tried to defend herself with Heart-Slaying Glaze, but the Immortal Lord shattered her guard with one punch and sent her crashing through buildings.
• The Immortal Lord prepared to claim Ming Qitian, but the sword domain's fragments remained as countless strands of razor-sharp Sword Qi surrounding it.

Ming Qitian’s sword briefly wounded the Immortal Lord, but he overwhelmed her and unleashed monsters and a storm on Fenghuai. As townspeople fled and Xing Zhi rescued Ming Qitian, Yue Muzhou and Chang Zhiyuan waited at the County Office; the chapter then began describing how Yue understood people through sound.

• Ming Qitian used the hidden Commoner’s Sword to pierce the Immortal Lord’s throat, but he seized the Heart-Slaying Glaze and covered it with dragon frost.
• The Immortal Lord hurled the sword into Ming Qitian, then transformed townspeople into monsters and began destroying Fenghuai with frost, wind, and rain.
• Xing Zhi rescued Ming Qitian from attacking monsters as frightened townspeople ran through the city beneath falling blue flames and black frost.
• At the County Office, Chang Zhiyuan finished organizing Fenghuai’s defenses and sat with the blind Yue Muzhou to wait as the weather turned.
• Yue Muzhou reflected on how he used subtle sounds to interpret people and their feelings.

Pei Ye read the final pages of a story about Xi Wuchou’s escape from Yin City with help from a determined girl. After she sent him downstream, she returned to the city to face danger alongside her mother and little brother.

• Pei Ye focused on a new suspicion as he read the story’s final pages.
• The girl carried the wounded Xi Wuchou through the Prince of Zhenbei Residence and squeezed him through a hidden hole in the courtyard wall.
• When the city gate escape route was sealed, Xi Wuchou used his true qi to carry the girl over the city wall.
• The girl brought Xi Wuchou to the Coldgrass River and put him in a laundry tub to drift downstream.
• Xi Wuchou urged the girl to flee with him, but she returned to Yin City because her mother and little brother remained there.

Pei Ye and Black Cat realized that Xi Wuchou had been real and that the Bead was the Divine Skill Endowed Fortune, then went to find Yue Muzhou. As a Monster attacked Yue Muzhou at the County Office, he absorbed part of it, causing Endowed Fortune to germinate and restoring his ability to stand.

• Pei Ye concluded that Xi Wuchou and the events in the Manuscript had been real, and Black Cat connected the Bead to the Divine Skill Endowed Fortune.
• Black Cat traced the Bead to the fields north of Kui Residence Mountain and realized Xi Wuchou might be connected to where it could be found.
• At the County Office, Yue Muzhou faced what he believed would be his death, but the Monster stopped before him and waited.
• Yue Muzhou touched the Monster and drew part of its body into himself, while Zhu Gaoyang’s human form emerged and another portion of the Monster escaped into its chest.
• Endowed Fortune began to germinate inside Yue Muzhou, and he stood again after eighteen years.

Yue Muzhou abandoned his careful recovery plan and rapidly advanced to the Sky Tower to confront the Immortal Lord attacking Fenghuai. He drove the Immortal Lord beyond the city walls, while Ming Qitian prepared to fight again despite her injuries and Heart-Slaying Glaze’s corruption.

• Yue Muzhou chose to ascend immediately, restored his cultivation through the Profound Gate, and cleared the sky above the County Office as he advanced.
• Ming Qitian treated her wounds, killed another Scout, and persuaded the weakened Heart-Slaying Glaze to let her wield it again.
• The Immortal Lord sensed Yue Muzhou’s emergence and rushed to attack him, directing the city’s Netherfire at him.
• Yue Muzhou met the Immortal Lord’s charge with a Sky Tower punch and knocked him beyond Fenghuai City’s bounds.
• Yue Muzhou dispersed the incoming Netherfire, coughed, and reached toward a street below.

Pei Ye and Black Cat raced to the County Office as the Immortal Lord’s rain transformed animals and threatened Fenghuai City. Yue Muzhou emerged to confront the Immortal Lord, and after Pei Ye gave him his sword, the two began a brutal battle that left both injured.

• Pei Ye rode toward the County Office through the deadly rain while Black Cat urged him to hurry and rescue Xi Wuchou.
• Two rain-corrupted dogs attacked a girl, and Black Cat broke into the house and burned them before rejoining Pei Ye.
• Yue Muzhou rose into the sky and struck the charging Immortal Lord, then asked Pei Ye for his sword and challenged Him at the city wall.
• Pei Ye threw his sword to Yue Muzhou, who joined the fight as Black Cat and Pei Ye set off to kill the Immortal Lord.
• Yue Muzhou’s sword cut deeply into the Immortal Lord, and the two fought fiercely for nearly a quarter of an hour before emerging from the dust badly injured.

Pei Ye and Black Chi reached the gate tower, where Black Chi asked him to trust their unspoken understanding while it coordinated with Ming Qitian for Heart-Slaying Glaze’s final strike. Outside Fenghuai, Yue Muzhou continued fighting the Immortal Lord and found that Quail Head had invaded his Mindscape Realm through a passing thought.

• Pei Ye watched Yue Muzhou and the Immortal Lord fight and recognized the old man’s instinctive combat style.
• Black Chi offered to dissolve its pact with Pei Ye, but Pei Ye refused and agreed to trust their unspoken understanding.
• Black Chi joined Ming Qitian at the gate tower and discussed coordinating with her for Heart-Slaying Glaze’s final strike.
• Yue Muzhou struggled to overcome the Immortal Lord’s regenerative body, matching wounds, and unusual abilities.
• Quail Head entered Yue Muzhou’s Mindscape Realm after exploiting a passing thought.

Yue Muzhou endured the Immortal Lord’s relentless assault, turning the pressure of his disadvantage into the force of a decisive sword strike. He unleashed [Sky-Piercing, Mortal Life Reversed], tearing apart the Immortal Lord, though the battle’s final outcome remained unresolved.

• Yue Muzhou used [Clouded Sky Obscures Eyes, Lost Feathers] to shield his mind and drive the Immortal Lord back.
• Ming Qitian and Black Cat headed toward the battlefield while Pei Ye stayed behind on the city wall.
• The Immortal Lord gained the advantage by detonating his fire early and trapping Yue Muzhou in an unrelenting assault.
• Yue Muzhou let the Immortal Lord compress his momentum until it reached its lowest point, then released [Sky-Piercing, Mortal Life Reversed].
• Yue Muzhou accepted the Immortal Lord’s claw strike as his sword Qi tore the Immortal Lord’s body apart.

Yue Muzhou wounded the Immortal Lord but lost his Dantian Seed, leaving his failing body unable to continue the fight. Black Chi and Ming Qitian intervened to weaken the Immortal Lord, but just as Ming Qitian attempted a final strike, something crossed the sky and stopped her.

• Yue Muzhou pierced the Immortal Lord’s exposed divine Seed, but the Immortal Lord extracted Yue Muzhou’s Dantian Seed with a claw.
• Yue Muzhou cut the Immortal Lord apart once more, then collapsed as his ruined body failed without its true qi.
• The Immortal Lord cracked Yue Muzhou’s Bead with dragon blood and frostfire, but Black Chi seized control of his body and tossed the Bead to the black cat.
• Ming Qitian struck the Immortal Lord repeatedly with Heart-Slaying Glaze while Black Chi restrained him, weakening his consciousness until Black Chi’s soul dispersed.
• Ming Qitian’s final thrust was blocked when the woods darkened and something passed overhead; the black cat looked up, recognizing that it was not a flock of birds.

Yue Muzhou taught Ming Qitian a secret sword technique and used it to deliver an unavoidable heart-slaying strike against the Immortal Lord. The Immortal Lord’s body fell, and the light went out of his dragon eyes.

• Ming Qitian supported Yue Muzhou and lent him True Qi as he explained the origins of the secret sword technique.
• Yue Muzhou took Heart-Slaying Glaze and warned that the dangerous technique could be used only once a year.
• After the Immortal Lord restored his body with Dragon Blood, he charged toward the pearl beneath Black Cat’s paws.
• Yue Muzhou faced the Immortal Lord with the secret sword, and the Immortal Lord realized the strike could not be avoided.
• Yue Muzhou cut downward with Heart-Slaying Glaze, and the Immortal Lord’s body fell as his golden eyes faded to gray.

After Yue Muzhou killed the Immortal Lord’s Sky Tower body, he arranged for Ming Qitian to take credit for the victory and give Endowed Fortune to Pei Ye. Pei Ye then used the Bead to lure the Immortal Lord’s remaining consciousness into his body, but as he reached for it, Black Cat still had not acted.

• Yue Muzhou told Ming Qitian that Endowed Fortune should go to Pei Ye because he had no Dantian Seed, and asked her to claim credit for the victory.
• Ming Qitian agreed to keep the Bead’s true destination within their group and take credit for defeating the Immortal Lord.
• Pei Ye suspected the Immortal Lord’s consciousness could survive by entering another body, so he planned to lure it with Endowed Fortune.
• Pei Ye approached the Bead and felt the Immortal Lord take control of his body, while Black Cat appeared to be discussing Heart-Slaying Glaze with Ming Qitian.
• Pei Ye watched himself bend toward the Bead as Black Cat still made no move.

Pei Ye absorbed the Immortal Lord’s dragon body with the Dantian Seed, gaining human true qi, and Xing Zhi learned that the Immortal Lord had been defeated. Fenghuai City began recovering as the dragon rain and frost ended, though the disaster’s losses remained uncertain.

• Black Chi’s strike destroyed the Immortal Lord’s consciousness, and Pei Ye took the Dantian Seed while Yue Muzhou helped stop his bleeding.
• Pei Ye devoured the Immortal Lord’s dragon body, filling the Dantian Seed and gaining pure human true qi.
• Xing Zhi arrived in the clearing and learned that the Immortal Lord had been killed.
• The dragon rain stopped, the frost melted, and Fenghuai’s residents emerged to grieve and assess the damage.

After the Immortal Lord’s defeat, Xing Zhi treated the wounded and used a spell formation to stabilize Yue Muzhou, whose life was fading. At Stream-Viewing Slope, Yue Muzhou helped Pei Ye recognize that he wanted to seek his own path in the Divine Capital and entrusts his vengeance to him, though their departure would have to wait until after the ninth month.

• Xing Zhi reunited with Zhu Gaoyang and used the Silver-Jade Life-Weaving art to stabilize Yue Muzhou for about four hours.
• Pei Ye pushed Yue Muzhou to Stream-Viewing Slope, where the old man asked him to consider what he wanted from life.
• Yue Muzhou told Pei Ye that he was too passionate and competitive to devote himself solely to sword cultivation or settle into a martial sanctuary.
• Pei Ye admitted he intended to avenge Yue Muzhou, and Yue Muzhou entrusted that hatred to him.
• Yue Muzhou recognized that Pei Ye wanted to go to the Divine Capital and said he would have to wait until after the ninth month.