Chapter Summaries

Qinghuang’s identity as Xu Yanhe was exposed when Meng Chuyuan recognized the Five-Leaf Abdomen Piercing, and their duel escalated into a desperate exchange of wounds. Qinghuang used Purple Bamboo’s advice to land a heavy strike, but Meng Chuyuan’s next feint left Qinghuang in immediate danger.

• Meng Chuyuan recognized Qinghuang’s Five-Leaf Abdomen Piercing and realized White Bamboo Pavilion had joined forces with Jade Feather to target the Seven Flood Dragons.
• Meng Chuyuan launched a fierce counterattack, forced Qinghuang onto the defensive, and pierced his shoulder with Cold Python.
• Qinghuang revealed that he had concentrated his True Qi in his left hand and recalled Purple Bamboo’s advice about countering Meng Chuyuan’s two swords.
• Qinghuang clashed head-on with Great Flood Dragon, won the exchange, and cut a deep gash across Meng Chuyuan’s waist as Meng Chuyuan wounded him in return.
• Qinghuang evaded Meng Chuyuan’s follow-up strike, then realized Great Flood Dragon’s attack had been a feint.

Qinghuang trapped Meng Chuyuan with his body after hinting at Heavenly Mountain's sword, while the story shifted to Gu Yunfu and Shang Yunning arriving at Heavenly Mountain for the Sword Inquiry Gathering. Ming Qitian recognized Shang Yunning and invited him to a sword exchange before the gathered disciples.

• Qinghuang used [Six Arms] to stop his final sword thrust, but seized his chance when Meng Chuyuan chose defense and lunged to bind him.
• Qinghuang whispered about Heavenly Mountain's sword, and a wild wind rose behind Meng Chuyuan.
• Gu Yunfu and Shang Yunning reached Heavenly Mountain, where Shi Zanxue told them the Sword Inquiry Gathering had begun.
• Gu Yunfu and Shang Yunning joined Shi Zanxue on the way to Sky-Supporting Pillar, and Gu Yunfu decided to deliver his letter to Ming Qitian.
• Ming Qitian recognized Shang Yunning and invited him to a conversation through swords, drawing the gathered disciples' attention.

Ming Qitian and Shang Yunning exchanged sword insights at Heavenly Mountain, where she advised him to practice the King Mu Sword rather than force himself to understand every principle first. After their discussion ended, Gu Yunfu brought Ming Qitian an unexpected letter from a courier.

• Ming Qitian and Shang Yunning demonstrated their sword skill and discussed the Five Peaks Sword, impressing the watching disciples with Shang Yunning's insight.
• Shang Yunning requested permission to show Ming Qitian the King Mu Sword manual so he could observe how she learned its moves.
• Ming Qitian quickly studied parts of the manual and advised Shang Yunning to practice a difficult move instead of endlessly analyzing its principles.
• Ming Qitian explained that sword talent could continue to develop through a swordsman's life, though improvement was slight and harder for talented swordsmen to notice.
• After Shang Yunning left the arena, Gu Yunfu delivered a letter to Ming Qitian that he had taken from a Letter Courier.

Ming Qitian replied to Pei Ye’s letter while Gu Yunfu delivered Lu Yunsheng’s report to Chu Xiao about a Joy-in-Death Tower killer, a Soul-Seizing Pearl, and the death of Cheng Jianghong. Lu Yunsheng then revealed that his investigation had led him into the Seven Flood Dragon Cave’s stronghold in Bowang, where he faced powerful enemies and sought Li Piaoqing’s help.

• Ming Qitian read Pei Ye’s letter and sent a handwritten reply by tiny sword.
• Gu Yunfu delivered Lu Yunsheng’s letter to Chu Xiao, who learned that Lu Yunsheng had found a Soul-Seizing Pearl and identified the dead man as Cheng Jianghong, a former Heavenly Mountain disciple.
• Lu Yunsheng explained that he planned to capture the killer, seize the magical artifact, and use the case to establish a Heavenly Mountain foothold in Lesser Long Circuit.
• Chu Xiao told Gu Yunfu that the Hushan Sword Gate’s upheaval might involve the Sun-Swallowing Society and warned that Lu Yunsheng could be underestimating the danger.
• Lu Yunsheng told Li Piaoqing that the Seven Flood Dragon Cave was a local base of the enemy, with connections in the authorities, and that he was now alone in their stronghold.

Lu Yunsheng asked Li Piaoqing to unite Jade Feather with Heavenly Mountain for a decisive battle against the Seven Flood Dragons and the Joy-in-Death Tower, and Li Piaoqing accepted. At Moon-Catching Lake, Qinghuang’s sword strike swept through Meng Chuyuan’s defenses.

• Lu Yunsheng explained that the Soul-Seizing Pearl remained in Bowang for an unconsumed target and that the enemy would soon leave, then laid out his plan to force the hidden enemy to fight.
• Lu Yunsheng asked Li Piaoqing to risk Jade Feather’s survival in exchange for Heavenly Mountain’s support and a foothold in Lesser Long Circuit.
• Li Piaoqing weighed the danger to her sect and accepted the alliance, declaring that the Emerald Feather Sword Sect would stand again and drive out the Seven Flood Dragon Cave and Joy-in-Death Tower.
• At Moon-Catching Lake, Meng Chuyuan realized an attack was coming as Great Flood Dragon, Cold Python, and a true qi arm tried to block it.
• Qinghuang’s Eight Steeds Sword strike, [Chasing the Sun, Surpassing the Shadow], cut through Meng Chuyuan’s defenses.

Lu Yunsheng killed Meng Chuyuan and faced the old seventh-growth murderer, gaining the upper hand with his Eight Steeds Sword. As the old man detonated his gathered true qi, Meng Chuyuan seized Lu Yunsheng and briefly restrained him, leaving him caught in the blast’s path.

• Lu Yunsheng pierced Meng Chuyuan and Qinghuang with one sword strike, fatally wounding Meng Chuyuan.
• The old man attacked Lu Yunsheng from behind, and Lu Yunsheng countered with [Brilliance Surpassing Radiance].
• Lu Yunsheng exchanged sword moves with the old man, then wounded his shoulder and thigh as the old man gathered scattered true qi into explosive clusters.
• Lu Yunsheng broke the old man’s guard with [Trampling the Earth, Extinguishing the Land] and retreated as the old man detonated the gathered true qi.
• Meng Chuyuan grabbed Lu Yunsheng around the waist to hold him in place, and Lu Yunsheng restrained Meng Chuyuan’s arms with true qi.

Lu Yunsheng and Meng Chuyuan mortally wounded each other, while Qinghuang’s last strike forced the old man to retreat. Li Piaoqing followed the blood trail of a wounded Seven Flood Dragons fighter toward an alley overlooking the battlefield.

• The old man’s concealed True Qi blades shattered Lu Yunsheng’s barriers, and Lu Yunsheng used [Hundred Birds] to pin most of them.
• Meng Chuyuan pierced Lu Yunsheng’s heart with Hidden Snake using a fourth arm formed through his refined [Six Arms], then died.
• The old man attacked the gravely wounded Lu Yunsheng, but Qinghuang threw his short sword and struck the old man before he could finish him.
• The old man retreated into the shadows, leaving Lu Yunsheng to realize that the Small Tower was empty.
• Li Piaoqing searched for the wounded black-robed man, followed his blood trail, and found it leading into a lakeside alley.

Li Piaoqing discovered that Lin Shuiying had died, then witnessed Lu Yunsheng fall and realized the Emerald Feather Sword Sect faced destruction. Refusing to rely on Pei Ye or Heavenly Mountain, she confronted the wounded Xu Cang alone.

• Li Piaoqing found Lin Shuiying dead beside Pei Ye's black cat and confirmed the seventh-growth cultivator had bled to death.
• Li Piaoqing saw an old man stab Lu Yunsheng through the heart, attack Qinghuang, and leave the battlefield.
• The old man pulled a sword from his chest and treated his severe wounds as he left the lakeside.
• Li Piaoqing recalled why she had kept Pei Ye out of the conflict and resolved to bear the Emerald Feather Sword Sect's burden herself.
• Li Piaoqing recognized the wounded old man as Xu Cang, Second Cave Master of the Seven Flood Dragons, and told him he had to die there.

Li Piaoqing fought the wounded seventh-growth old man and killed him with a concealed Heavenly Mountain artifact and Bai Yuliang’s Heart-Slaying Glaze. She collapsed beside his corpse, badly wounded, and remembered her senior brother’s promise to help her when she got into trouble.

• Li Piaoqing attacked the old man with Yellow Jadeite: Fire-Sweeping Through the Waterfall, then used Broken Leaf Returning Tide to recover her sword and counter his strike.
• The old man pierced Li Piaoqing’s abdomen, but she pressed the Wind and Snow Order into his existing wound and released its storm of blades inside him.
• Li Piaoqing pulled the sword from her abdomen and attacked, while the old man struck her with true qi and pinned her against a wall by the throat.
• Li Piaoqing used the Heart-Slaying Glaze hidden in her mouth to stab the old man through the forehead, killing him.
• Li Piaoqing collapsed and trembled beside the corpse, then remembered Bai Yuliang telling her to call him when she got into trouble.

Lu Yunsheng and Li Piaoqing defeated the Seven Flood Dragons fighters, but discovered that the Soul-Seizer had used Xu Cang as a decoy while harvesting the fruit elsewhere. The Soul-Seizer had likely taken the Soul-Seizing Pearl and escaped Bowang, leaving Lu Yunsheng and Li Piaoqing too late to stop him.

• Lu Yunsheng treated his heart wound and gave Qinghuang medicine while worrying that their enemy might abandon the fruit and leave Bowang.
• Li Piaoqing returned with Xu Cang's corpse and told Lu Yunsheng that she had killed him; Lu Yunsheng confirmed that they had won the fight.
• Li Piaoqing searched Xu Cang for the Soul-Seizing Pearl, but it was not on the body, and his face was not a disguise.
• Lu Yunsheng realized that Xu Cang was a real Seven Flood Dragons elder impersonating the Soul-Seizer, who had stayed away from the battle.
• Li Piaoqing and Lu Yunsheng concluded that the Soul-Seizer had used the battle to keep them occupied while harvesting the fruit and escaping with the pearl.

Pei Ye connected the Cicada Sparrow Sword and Yellow Jadeite to the old man’s murder of Bai Yuliang, then prepared to confront the Pill-Delivering Old Man. The old man revealed that he had targeted Bai Yuliang to harvest a complete Jadeite Sword inheritance, while Pei Ye faced him alone.

• Li Piaoqing confirmed that the corpse had no wound from Lu Yunsheng’s Fine Steel Spike and collapsed in grief.
• Pei Ye realized that Escort Chief Zhao had taught Bai Yuliang the Cicada Sparrow Sword and that the Pill-Delivering Old Man had spied on them to seize the Jadeite inheritance.
• Pei Ye stayed behind to face the approaching Pill-Delivering Old Man while telling Black Cat to help Li Piaoqing first.
• Pei Ye assessed his chances against the Seventh Growth old man and chose to fight despite the danger.
• The Pill-Delivering Old Man recalled how Bai Yuliang’s swordsmanship had led him to pursue the Jadeite inheritance, but the forms he harvested had not been perfected.

Pei Ye fought Yang Hu, who had come to harvest him before the Cicada Section was complete. Pei Ye’s sword intent trapped Yang Hu in darkness, but Yang Hu protected his vital points with True Qi as Pei Ye faced the staff strike.

• Yang Hu recalled how Pei Ye had mastered the sword art and decided to harvest him after Heavenly Mountain’s move forced the confrontation.
• Pei Ye completed the Cicada Section while practicing, and Yang Hu ordered his allies to keep Heavenly Mountain and Jade Feather occupied.
• Yang Hu charged Pei Ye with a staff, while Pei Ye used [Quail Head] to track him and aimed a killing strike at his throat.
• Yang Hu stopped just beyond the sword’s reach and drove his staff forward, expecting to smash Pei Ye as the boy committed to his attack.
• Pei Ye unleashed sword intent that plunged Yang Hu into darkness, and Yang Hu withdrew his True Qi to shield his vital points with [Iron Garment].

Pei Ye fought Yang Hu with a carefully planned sequence of sword-intent attacks, nearly breaking through the Seventh Growth's defenses. Just as Pei Ye prepared his third strike, Yang Hu revealed a powerful fire technique and engulfed the training ground in a Fire Lotus.

• Pei Ye used [Clouded Sky Obscures Eyes, Lost Feathers] to unsettle Yang Hu, then withdrew when he could not safely attack through the old man's staff strike.
• Pei Ye launched a second sword-intent attack at greater speed, predicting that Yang Hu would withdraw his staff to defend again.
• Pei Ye stole power from Yang Hu's staff with [Leaf-Eating] and [Spread Wings], then struck Yang Hu's neck with [Clear Cry], shattering his scales but failing to pierce his [Iron Garment].
• Pei Ye retreated from Yang Hu's counterattack, while Yang Hu realized Pei Ye had anticipated his defensive choice and resolved to end the fight quickly.
• Yang Hu planted his staff and raised his hand, trapping Pei Ye in an expanding force that ignited the air into an immense Fire Lotus.

Pei Ye survived the old man's Immortal Fire with Black Chi's help, then joined Yang Yan in a coordinated attack on the Seventh Growth. The old man overcame his hesitation and counterattacked both boys, drawing a hidden long sword as he thrust it toward Pei Ye's chest.

• The old man engulfed Pei Ye in Immortal Fire, but Pei Ye called on Little Cat and Black Chi sheltered him from the flames.
• Yang Yan charged the old man with his saber after seeing Pei Ye swallowed by fire.
• Pei Ye emerged from the flames consuming the Immortal Fire and attacked with [Clouded Sky Obscures Eyes, Lost Feathers] as Yang Yan struck from the other side.
• The old man chose to face both attacks rather than evade, thrusting his staff toward Yang Yan and drawing a long sword from it.
• The old man stabbed his newly drawn sword toward Pei Ye's chest while protecting himself with [Iron Garment].

Pei Ye used darkness and Heart-Slaying Glaze, powered by Ming Qitian from afar, to kill the old man. He preserved the corpse from burning, then learned that his Green Skirt friend was facing a badly wounded Seventh Growth cultivator.

• Pei Ye used fear and precise sword control to deflect the old man's hidden sword thrust and escape its reach.
• Pei Ye sent Heart-Slaying Glaze through the old man's weakened defenses with power from Ming Qitian, piercing his throat and killing him.
• Pei Ye stopped the flames consuming the old man's corpse and drew them into his palm with Black Cat's help.
• Pei Ye asked about the fight elsewhere, and Black Cat told him that his Green Skirt friend had encountered a badly wounded Seventh Growth cultivator.

After Pei Ye and Yang Yan defeated the old man, they examined his belongings and discovered that Yang Yan’s jade pendant reacted to the Soul-Seizing Pearl. Yang Yan revealed that he had fled his sect with the pendant after his master died, and said the pendant could be opened.

• Yang Yan reacted in shock to Pei Ye’s flying sword, Heart-Slaying Glaze, and Pei Ye thanked him for joining the fight against the old man.
• Pei Ye searched the old man’s body and found a Soul-Seizing Pearl, but Black Cat said the fire had destroyed whatever produced it.
• Yang Yan’s jade pendant moved toward the Soul-Seizing Pearl, but the two objects showed no further reaction after touching.
• Pei Ye let Yang Yan examine Heart-Slaying Glaze and explained that he was looking after it for Ming Qitian.
• Yang Yan said his master had died, he had escaped his sect with the jade pendant, and someone wanted to take it.
• Yang Yan told Pei Ye that the jade pendant could be opened.

Yang Yan asked Pei Ye to help unlock his sect’s Jade Pendant by learning Snow-Collapsing, while Pei Ye examined a recovered Ascension Pill. After Li Piaoqing returned from a devastating battle, Pei Ye brought her to identify an old man’s corpse.

• Yang Yan revealed that Sea-Swallowing and Snow-Collapsing could unlock his sect’s Jade Pendant, and asked Pei Ye to learn Snow-Collapsing after he won its manual at the Martial Competition.
• Pei Ye examined an Ascension Pill recovered from the dead Cheng Jianghong and decided to keep it for Green Skirt to inspect.
• Pei Ye told the Martial Arts Hall students that the seventh-growth criminal was dead and revealed the corpse of the elder they had meant to summon.
• Li Piaoqing and Lu Yunsheng returned to the Martial Arts Hall after the battle, and Lu Yunsheng promised to face future battles alongside her sect.
• Pei Ye found Li Piaoqing bloodied and dazed, helped her down from the carriage, and led her to the East Courtyard to examine an old man’s corpse.

After Li Piaoqing learned that Pei Ye had killed the man from the Joy-in-Death Tower, she protected him and coordinated with Heavenly Mountain and the Immortal Platform over the corpse and evidence. With the immediate crisis contained, she had her wounds treated and fell asleep while Pei Ye stayed beside her.

• Pei Ye explained that the dead man had tried to kill him for a sword technique, and Li Piaoqing identified the threat as a member of the Joy-in-Death Tower.
• Li Piaoqing learned that several people knew Pei Ye had killed the man and told him to keep silent while the Emerald Feather Sword Sect handled the matter.
• Zhao Fu tried to enter the courtyard to investigate, but Li Piaoqing challenged his authority and Pei Ye’s drawn sword made him stop short.
• Lu Yunsheng arrived as a representative of Heavenly Mountain, and Li Piaoqing helped keep Pei Ye under the protection of Heavenly Mountain and the Emerald Feather Sword Sect.
• Li Piaoqing told Pei Ye that the Immortal Platform would investigate the Soul-Seizing case while the corpse and bead remained in their custody until Heavenly Mountain arrived.
• After a doctor treated her wounds, Li Piaoqing asked Pei Ye to stay in the West Courtyard, then fell asleep as he kept watch beside her.

Pei Ye and Li Piaoqing discussed the unusual flames produced by their enemy’s True Qi Art and inspected an Ascension Pill, which Li Piaoqing judged genuine. They then examined the corpse’s disguise, and Li Piaoqing began explaining how its human-skin mask had been made.

• Li Piaoqing said the enemy’s enormous flames were unusual for a True Qi Art and might have used True Qi as fuel.
• Li Piaoqing inspected the Ascension Pill and said it appeared genuine, then suggested testing a small amount on an animal.
• Pei Ye fed a speck of the pill to Black Cat, who ate it, and Li Piaoqing offered to let Pei Ye give the pill to Zhang Junxue.
• Pei Ye persuaded Li Piaoqing to inspect the corpse’s false face, and she cut beneath its ear to reveal a human-skin mask.
• Li Piaoqing explained the first method of disguise and offered to teach Pei Ye simple techniques.

Li Piaoqing and Pei Ye uncovered the unnaturally featureless face beneath a human-skin mask, while Pei Ye learned that the Cicada Sparrow Sword and Yellow Jadeite were parts of Jadeite Mountain’s scattered legacy. After Pei Ye took the Ascension Pill and reached Fourth Growth, the Seven Flood Dragons sect leader’s arrival at the Moon-Catching Tower halted his planned attack, and Li Piaoqing later brought Zhang Junxue the pill she needed.

• Li Piaoqing removed a human-skin mask and revealed the corpse’s smooth, featureless face, deepening Pei Ye’s suspicion of the Joy-in-Death Tower.
• Pei Ye explained that the Cicada Section and Yellow Jadeite likely belonged to one sword art, and Li Piaoqing agreed to take him to her master after the Martial Competition.
• Pei Ye swallowed the Ascension Pill, grew to Fourth Growth with sixteen meridians, and tested how his true qi could heat water and pierce wood.
• Pei Ye and Li Piaoqing debated going to the Moon-Catching Tower, but a Bowang Garden cook reported that the Seven Flood Dragons sect leader had arrived there to protect Shang Huaitong.
• The Immortal Platform grandmaster went to the Moon-Catching Tower to negotiate with the sect leader, stabilizing the conflict while Li Piaoqing sent for Seventh Growth cultivators to scout Seven Flood Dragons’ mountain headquarters.
• After sleeping through the afternoon, Li Piaoqing gave Zhang Junxue the Ascension Pill she needed.