Chapter Summaries

The Carefree Marquis learned that Lin Lang had killed members of the Heavenly Sect and vowed to hunt him down, while Lin Lang returned to Blackwood Cliff and tightened the Sun Moon Holy Cult’s recruitment and training. Lin Lang then helped his followers advance and welcomed Ren Yingying after she broke through to the Heaven-Man Realm, offering her the Evil Emperor’s Relic and a technique to purify her True Qi.

• The Carefree Marquis discovered that the Deer-Cutting Saber was fake and learned Lin Lang had killed the Young Master and other Heavenly Sect members, so he ordered a search for Lin Lang.
• Lin Lang arrived at Blackwood Cliff, where young disciples blocked his way until Jiang Xiaoyu recognized him and led his horse up the mountain.
• Lin Lang reprimanded Jiang Xiaoyu for neglecting the gates, ordered the cult to recruit only geniuses and send unqualified disciples back to their branch altars, and assigned agents to investigate Xiao Shiyilang and Doll Manor.
• Lin Lang advised Jiang Xiaoyu on cultivating his True Qi, distributed martial arts to his followers, and warned Blue Scorpion that removing her Gu King could endanger her life.
• Ren Yingying emerged from seclusion after breaking through to the early Heaven-Man Realm, and Lin Lang gave her the Evil Emperor’s Relic and promised to teach her a technique for purifying True Qi.

Lin Lang agreed to help Xiao Shiyilang remove the Time-Has-Come Gu Poison from Old Madam Shen in exchange for Xiao Shiyilang’s martial arts legacy, Doll Manor’s location, and the Deer-Cutting Saber. Lin Lang and Xiao Shiyilang set out for Great Song, while a group of jianghu people entered Great Ming and headed for Blackwood Cliff.

• After helping Ren Yingying absorb the essence from the Evil Emperor’s Relic, Lin Lang left her to refine it and prepared to return to Great Ming’s Capital City.
• Xiao Shiyilang forced his way up Blackwood Cliff to ask Lin Lang to save Old Madam Shen from a rare gu worm.
• Lin Lang demanded Doll Manor’s location, the Deer-Cutting Saber, and Xiao Shiyilang’s martial arts legacy in exchange for his help.
• After Lin Lang explained the Time-Has-Come Gu Poison and promised he could remove it, Xiao Shiyilang handed over his martial arts legacy and agreed to guide him to Doll Manor and Carefree Cave.
• Lin Lang left Jiang Xiaoyu in charge of Blackwood Cliff and departed with Xiao Shiyilang for Great Song as jianghu people approached Blackwood Cliff.

Lin Lang and Xiao Shiyilang learned more about Carefree Marquis and Doll Manor while traveling to investigate the White-Haired Murderer. They stopped Old Madam Shen during another rampage and Lin Lang revealed he could cure her gu poison, leaving Lian Chengbi's scheme in jeopardy.

• Xiao Shiyilang described how Carefree Marquis imprisoned Jianghu experts in Doll Manor, and Lin Lang decided to hurry toward the city where the White-Haired Murderer was striking.
• Old Madam Shen heard reports of the killings and noticed signs that something was wrong with her memory and body.
• Chasing Life questioned Lian Chengbi about the murders, and Lian Chengbi concealed that he had infected Old Madam Shen with gu poison to manipulate Shen Bijun and frame Xiao Shiyilang.
• Lian Chengbi and Chasing Life pursued Old Madam Shen when she appeared as the White-Haired Murderer, but Lin Lang restrained her and temporarily suppressed the gu worm.
• Chasing Life recognized Lin Lang as the Imperial Preceptor of Great Ming, and Lian Chengbi pretended to be shocked when Lin Lang identified Old Madam Shen.
• Lian Chengbi claimed that the only cure was to cut off Old Madam Shen's head, but Lin Lang rejected that claim and said he could deal with the gu worm.

Lin Lang exposed Lian Chengbi’s role in poisoning Old Madam Shen, saved Shen Bijun, and agreed to help Xiao Shiyilang pursue the Carefree Marquis. As Lin Lang’s forces struck Blackwood Cliff, the Carefree Marquis learned that Lin Lang had arrived at Carefree Cave.

• Lin Lang cured Old Madam Shen’s Gu poison, but she learned she had killed hundreds and blamed Xiao Shiyilang before taking her own life.
• Lin Lang crippled Lian Chengbi and helped Xiao Shiyilang cure Shen Bijun’s Heart-Eroding Grass poison; Lian Chengbi died trying to take Shen Bijun with him.
• Chasing Life reported that the Carefree Marquis had destroyed Lian Family Fortress, and Lin Lang said he would deal with the Carefree Marquis in exchange for a meeting with Zhuge Zhengwo.
• Shen Bijun thanked Lin Lang and arranged to sell the Shen family property to compensate the victims’ families as Xiao Shiyilang departed with Lin Lang.
• Masked Heavenly Sect forces attempted to raid Blackwood Cliff, but an unseen attacker struck them with Poison Sand and a powerful saber aura.
• The Carefree Marquis lamented that his body was still decaying despite reaching the Martial Arts Myth Realm, then learned Lin Lang had arrived and was already at Carefree Cave.

Lin Lang confronted Carefree Marquis in Carefree Cave, exposed his disguised appearance, and discovered weaknesses in his unusual martial arts. After Carefree Marquis fled and restored his strength by draining Heavenly Sect members, Lin Lang seized the Deer-Cutting Saber, whose sealed blade he unexpectedly drew by stabbing Xiao Shiyilang with it.

• Lin Lang and Xiao Shiyilang entered Carefree Cave, where Carefree Marquis confronted them and demanded to know whether Lin Lang had killed Young Master.
• Carefree Marquis attacked Lin Lang with shape-changing arms, but Lin Lang identified the limits of his technique and struck him hard enough to expose his true appearance.
• Carefree Marquis unleashed a more dangerous attack, but Lin Lang used Reverse Star-Sucking Great Skill to disrupt his true qi and then traded blows with him until Carefree Marquis fled through a stone door.
• Lin Lang smashed through the stone door and pursued Carefree Marquis, who drained Heavenly Sect members to heal himself, while Xiao Shiyilang tried and failed to open the mechanism hiding the Deer-Cutting Saber.
• Lin Lang broke open the stone platform, took the sealed Deer-Cutting Saber, and stabbed Xiao Shiyilang's arm with it before drawing the blade from its sheath.

Lin Lang killed the Carefree Marquis with the Deer-Cutting Saber, took his treasures, and forced Doll Manor’s imprisoned martial artists to join the Sun Moon Holy Cult. After sending them toward Blackwood Cliff, Lin Lang studied the Carefree Marquis’s martial arts and set out for the Great Song Capital to collect his debts.

• Lin Lang used the Deer-Cutting Saber to sever the Carefree Marquis’s limbs, foiled his attempt to self-detonate, and collected his poisonous blood.
• Lin Lang claimed the Deer-Cutting Saber and Carefree Cave’s treasures, then went to Doll Manor with Xiao Shiyilang.
• Lin Lang offered Doll Manor’s captives a choice between joining the Sun Moon Holy Cult and dying, then killed seven who tried to flee.
• Lin Lang sent the captives and chests toward Blackwood Cliff with Xiao Shiyilang, while Wen Dong arranged the transport.
• Lin Lang studied the Eighteen-Layer Yin Earth Skill, adapted some of its principles to his own martial arts, and ordered Wen Dong to take him to the Great Song Capital.

Zhuge Zhengwo learned that Lin Lang had destroyed the Heavenly Sect and worried about what Lin Lang might demand, while Yuan Shisanxian plotted to kill him. Lin Lang met Li Xunhuan, demonstrated how a Martial Arts Myth controlled heaven and earth, and helped him understand his path forward; elsewhere, Xiong Ba prepared to expand the World Association, and Mud Bodhisattva decided to leave his mountain refuge.

• Zhuge Zhengwo received news of Carefree Marquis's death and ordered the Divine Constabulary to alert him if Lin Lang approached the Capital City.
• Yuan Shisanxian decided to use the Six Harmonies Azure Dragon Formation and other methods to kill Lin Lang and win the Great Song emperor's favor.
• Lin Lang caught Li Xunhuan's three flying daggers, explained how a Martial Arts Myth controlled heaven and earth, and helped Li Xunhuan understand his route toward a breakthrough.
• Xiong Ba announced plans to establish the Frost, Wind, and Cloud Three Great Halls and declared that the World Association would contend with the Sun Moon Holy Cult and the Great Sui Demonic Sect.
• Master Yixin asked Mud Bodhisattva to divine how to kill Lin Lang, but Mud Bodhisattva urged him to consult his own fate instead.
• Mud Bodhisattva resolved to leave his refuge and seek the opportunity that lay in the north.

Lin Lang infiltrated the Great Song Imperial Palace and absorbed the True Dragon Qi from the throne, imperial seal, and dragon pillars while demanding the palace’s martial arts manuals. Zhuge Zhengwo and Yuan Shisanxian confronted him, and the chapter ended as Yuan Shisanxian unleashed his Heartbroken Little Arrow.

• Zhuge Zhengwo urged the Great Song emperor to strengthen the military, but the emperor dismissed his warnings and sent him away.
• Lin Lang entered the Imperial Study, revealed he had come to borrow True Dragon Qi, and absorbed the qi from the throne, imperial seal, and dragon pillars.
• Lin Lang ordered the old eunuch to bring him the palace’s martial arts manuals, including the Nine Yin Manual, while the frightened emperor complied.
• Zhuge Zhengwo confronted Lin Lang and proposed a wager, but Lin Lang refused and dismissed the challenge.
• Yuan Shisanxian arrived with six disciples and formed the Six Harmonies Azure Dragon Formation, while the Great Song emperor fled after the old eunuch warned him that Zhuge Zhengwo might not win.
• Yuan Shisanxian launched his Heartbroken Little Arrow, and its killing intent locked onto Lin Lang.

Lin Lang survived Zhuge Zhengwo and Yuan Shisanxian’s strongest attacks, forced Great Song’s martial factions to surrender their manuals, and absorbed most of the palace’s true dragon qi, causing Great Song’s national fortune to collapse. As the resulting change unsettled Mud Bodhisattva and strengthened Lin Lang, Master Yixin used the Heirloom Seal of the Realm to foresee a future in which Lin Lang destroyed the Buddhist Sect and began a desperate countermeasure.

• Zhuge Zhengwo and Yuan Shisanxian combined their ultimate techniques against Lin Lang, but Lin Lang redirected Zhuge Zhengwo’s spear attack and survived the Heartbroken Little Arrow.
• Lin Lang stamped the ground to disable the Imperial Guards, spared them, and demanded the martial arts of Divine Marquis’s Residence and Free and Unfettered Gate be sent to Blackwood Cliff within ten days.
• Lin Lang killed Yuan Shisanxian, then left Great Song after absorbing nearly eighty percent of the Imperial Palace’s true dragon qi; Zhuge Zhengwo realized Great Song’s national fortune was in danger.
• Mud Bodhisattva sensed Great Song’s national fortune collapse and took his granddaughter north, while Ding Peng felt an oppressive force lift and continued training his Divine Blade Slash.
• Master Yixin used the Heirloom Seal of the Realm to foresee Lin Lang destroying the Buddhist Sect and the Li Clan, then began a desperate course of action by letting his aura fade before the Buddha statue.

Lin Lang visited Wudang Mountain, where Zhang Sanfeng had become a Martial Arts Myth by transforming his Divine Intent into a Primordial Spirit. After sparring and discussing the martial Dao, Lin Lang resolved to transform his essence, qi, and spirit, then returned to Blackwood Cliff and tasked Lu Xiaofeng with locating the missing Buddhist Sect of Great Sui.

• Yu Lianzhou escorted Lin Lang to meet Zhang Sanfeng, who revealed that he had formed a Primordial Spirit after decades of tempering his Divine Intent.
• Lin Lang discussed multiple transformations of essence, qi, and spirit with Zhang Sanfeng, then sparred with him and experienced the Primordial Spirit’s power.
• Zhang Sanfeng and Lin Lang exchanged martial insights, and Lin Lang resolved to transform all three aspects within a year.
• Lin Lang returned to Blackwood Cliff, learned Jiang Xiaoyu had reached the Heaven-Man Realm, ordered captured Heavenly Sect members killed, and restricted disciples from studying new arts before mastering their current ones.
• Lu Xiaofeng visited Lin Lang, asked him to spare Hua Ruyu for Hua Manlou’s sake, and agreed to investigate the disappearance of the Great Sui Buddhist Sect’s experts.

Lin Lang sent Lu Xiaofeng to Mud Bodhisattva with medicine for his poisonous sores, and Mud Bodhisattva repaid him with the location of a temple. Lin Lang hurried there seeking the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, but arrived as Liao Kong began refining Master Yixin’s Śarīra.

• Lin Lang studied the martial arts manuals from Great Song and worked to combine his divine intents into yin-yang divine intent.
• Lu Xiaofeng told Lin Lang that Mud Bodhisattva feared heavenly retribution, so Lin Lang sent him medicine and asked him to divine where the Heirloom Seal of the Realm was hidden.
• Mud Bodhisattva’s sores eased after he drank Lin Lang’s medicine, and he gave Lu Xiaofeng a temple address for Lin Lang.
• Liao Kong and the four Guardian Vajras found Master Yixin dead in meditation and discovered the Heirloom Seal of the Realm hidden behind a Buddha statue.
• Liao Kong began refining Master Yixin’s Śarīra, while Lin Lang arrived at the temple seeking the seal.

Lin Lang stormed a remote temple and killed the Pure Thought Zen Sect’s Dharma-Protecting Vajras before confronting Liao Kong, who had absorbed Master Yixin’s Śarīra and broken through to the Martial Arts Myth Realm. Liao Kong drew power from the monks’ corpses and finally struck Lin Lang with a hidden Zen Sound, leaving Lin Lang dazed and apparently wounded as Liao Kong claimed victory.

• Lin Lang reached the temple, identified Bu Tan as a monk of the Pure Thought Zen Sect, and overcame his attempt to force him out.
• Lin Lang used Heavenly Demon Sound to shatter the Martial Hearts of Bu Tan and the other Dharma-Protecting Vajras, then killed Bu Chi and caused the remaining three monks to die by their own hands.
• Lin Lang confronted Liao Kong, who had absorbed the Essence of Master Yixin’s Śarīra and was completing his breakthrough while maintaining Muteness Zen.
• Liao Kong attacked Lin Lang, and the two fought as Lin Lang tested his defenses with the Seven Injuries Fist.
• Liao Kong drained the four Dharma-Protecting Vajras’ corpses, grew stronger with a mixed Buddhist and demonic aura, and resumed fighting Lin Lang.
• Liao Kong broke Muteness Zen with a Buddhist Daoist Zen Sound, dazed Lin Lang, and struck him several times while declaring that he had won.

Lin Lang killed Liao Kong after defeating his Demon Buddha art, then discovered and took the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. Back at Blackwood Cliff, he used the seal’s energy to stabilize his attempt to transform his Divine Intent into a Primordial Spirit.

• Liao Kong fused demonic and Buddhist powers into the Demon Buddha Golden Body and fought Lin Lang, who overwhelmed him with a secret art and killed him.
• Lin Lang found the Heirloom Seal of the Realm hidden beneath a Buddha statue and discovered that he could absorb its energy with the Reverse Star-Sucking Great Skill.
• Divine Monk Daoxin arrived, found Liao Kong dead and the seal missing, and decided to blame Lin Lang publicly to rally allies against him.
• Lin Lang returned to Blackwood Cliff with the seal, told Jiang Xiaoyu he had killed Liao Kong and the four Dharma-Protecting Vajras, and entered seclusion.
• Lin Lang forced his Divine Intents to merge, began to suffer signs of cultivation deviation, and used the seal’s energy to stabilize their transformation.

Lin Lang condensed his divine intent into a yin-yang primordial spirit and ordered the Sun Moon Holy Cult to hunt disciples of the Great Sui Buddhist Sect after rumors spread that he had taken the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. As Buddhist disciples abandoned their temples and Wanwan plotted to strengthen herself, Lin Lang prepared to pursue the remaining Buddhist experts.

• Lin Lang used the Heirloom Seal of the Realm to merge his divine intents into a yin-yang primordial spirit, greatly increasing his strength and leaving the seal's remaining energy for Yingying.
• Xiang Wentian told Lin Lang that rumors accused him of seizing the Heirloom Seal of the Realm and plotting treason, so Lin Lang ordered a bounty on Great Sui Buddhist Sect disciples and threatened temples that sheltered them.
• Lin Lang excused Jiumozhi from the campaign, instructed Xiang Wentian to find the Divine Condor Couple, and sent the Sun Moon Holy Cult's elders out to hunt Buddhist disciples.
• The bounty spread across the Jianghu, prompting many Great Sui Buddhist disciples to return to secular life while others vowed to resist Lin Lang.
• Wanwan learned that the remaining Great Sui Buddhist experts were with the Li Clan, threatened Yuwen Huaji with withdrawing the Holy Sect's support, and planned to absorb the divine monks to advance her strength.

Hua Wuque lost to Jiang Xiaoyu, and Lin Lang advised him to forge his own martial path while giving Yan Nantian the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill. Lin Lang reversed the Wedding Dress Divine Skill’s flaw and began cultivating it, then welcomed Ren Yingying out of seclusion and offered her the Heirloom Seal of the Realm.

• Hua Wuque emerged from seclusion at the Heaven-Man Realm, and Yan Nantian took him to Blackwood Cliff to challenge Jiang Xiaoyu.
• Jiang Xiaoyu defeated Hua Wuque in their weapon and hand-to-hand exchanges, and Yan Nantian acknowledged the loss and gave Lin Lang the Wedding Dress Divine Skill.
• Lin Lang advised Hua Wuque to adapt his master’s teachings into his own style, then offered Yan Nantian the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, which Yan Nantian accepted.
• Lin Lang used the system to reverse the Wedding Dress Divine Skill’s flaw and began cultivating it, finding that it strengthened and refined his true qi and body.
• Ren Yingying emerged from seclusion at the Heavenly Realm Peak, and Lin Lang offered her the Heirloom Seal of the Realm; she accepted after he reassured her it was meant for her.

Lin Lang returned to the Great Ming capital, helped Yunluo plan to establish her own residence, and devised a new way to revive the Fragrant Pavilion’s business. He taught Cheng Shifei two powerful martial arts before a ship arrived on Great Song’s southeastern coast, leaving the identities of its two passengers unrevealed.

• Lin Lang visited Yunluo, examined her martial arts bottleneck, and taught her the Marrow-Cleansing Scripture alongside new training methods.
• Yunluo asked the Emperor of Great Ming for permission to establish her own residence near Lin Lang’s home, and he agreed to grant it in three days.
• Lin Lang advised the madam of the Fragrant Pavilion to attract customers by presenting performers as mysterious female disciples of Jianghu sects.
• Lin Lang taught Cheng Shifei the Nine Yin Manual and the Nine Yang Divine Skill, and Cheng Shifei left to practice them in seclusion.
• A large ship reached Great Song’s southeastern coast, and two people leapt from its deck to the shore using their lightness skills.

Lin Lang learned that the Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil Envoys had returned to the Central Plains and planned to investigate Xia Ke Island, whose island lords he suspected of exploiting the Jianghu. The envoys avoided Great Ming and Great Sui, choosing instead to seek targets in Great Song and elsewhere.

• Lin Lang visited Yunluo’s new residence, rejected the Emperor of Great Ming’s plan to invade Great Song, and advised him to expand his influence through tribute demands instead.
• Lin Lang warned Yunluo to focus on martial training, then received Shangguan Haitang’s report that the Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil Envoys had returned after a decade.
• Lin Lang told Shangguan Haitang that Xia Ke Island’s claims of rewarding good and punishing evil were a sham, and ordered her to watch the envoys so he could visit the island.
• Lin Lang gave Shangguan Haitang guidance on her cultivation, helping her approach the peak of the Great Grandmaster level.
• Zhang San and Li Si decided against delivering tokens in Great Ming or Great Sui and planned to recruit sect leaders from Great Song, Dali, and the Western Regions instead.

Lin Lang created the Peerless Divine Skill Divine Sword Finger and ordered the Sun Moon Holy Cult to collect Xia Ke Island’s invitation tokens, sparing the Happy Life Gang. As Zhang San and Li Si prepared to punish the sects that had not come, a man arrived claiming to lead thirty-five gangs and sects.

• Lin Lang perfected Divine Sword Finger, then ordered Shangguan Haitang to locate the Xia Ke Island envoys and had Jiang Xiaoyu collect the invitation tokens, leaving the Happy Life Gang alone.
• Bei Haishi persuaded Shi Potian to accept the Happy Life Gang’s token and travel to Xia Ke Island, while planning to reclaim his leadership afterward.
• Yin Ku offered to take Bai Zizai’s token and protect the Snow Mountain Sect, as Sun Moon Holy Cult members collected tokens from other sects and gangs.
• Zhang San and Li Si found that only Shi Potian had arrived to board the ship and threatened to destroy the absent sects.
• A resonant voice announced that the acting leader of thirty-five gangs and sects had arrived.

Lin Lang claimed invitations to Xia Ke Island as acting leader of thirty-five sects and gangs and boarded after Jiang Xiaoyu fought the island's envoys. He tried to recruit Shi Potian as his disciple and revealed his true parentage, leaving Shi Potian overwhelmed.

• Lin Lang arrived with Jiang Xiaoyu and Hua Wuque and presented his authority as acting leader of thirty-five sects and gangs holding invitations to Xia Ke Island.
• Jiang Xiaoyu fought Zhang San and Li Si until the envoys accepted Lin Lang's visit and Lin Lang stopped the fight.
• Lin Lang boarded the ship and allowed Xie Yanke, Ding Busan, and Ding Busi to join in exchange for promises of service.
• Lin Lang offered to take Shi Potian as his disciple, but Shi Potian refused out of loyalty to Shi Xiaocui.
• Lin Lang used his temporary authority over the Golden Crow Sect to expel Shi Potian and argued that changing masters would resolve his generational conflict with Bai Axiu.
• Lin Lang revealed that Mei Fanggu had abducted Shi Potian from Shi Qing and Min Rou and that Shi Zhongyu was his twin brother, leaving Shi Potian silent while Hua Wuque went to comfort him.

Lin Lang brought Shi Potian and the others to Xia Ke Island, where he learned several martial arts techniques and took control of the island's Laba porridge. After Island Master Long tried to impose the island's rules on him, Lin Lang countered that his word was now the rule.

• Lin Lang told Ding Busi that Mei Fanggu was his daughter with Mei Wenxin, while Hua Wuque urged Shi Potian to seek Lin Lang's backing; Shi Potian agreed to make the Happy Life Gang a subordinate gang and consider becoming Lin Lang's disciple later.
• Lin Lang watched Shi Potian demonstrate his techniques, gave him pointers, and observed Xie Yanke spar with Hua Wuque; over several days, Lin Lang learned the group's signature skills.
• Zhang San brought the group to Xia Ke Island, where Lin Lang and the others ate all the poisonous Laba porridge, and Lin Lang demanded that his disciple receive the recipe.
• Island Masters Long and Mu confronted Lin Lang after finding the porridge gone, and Island Master Long used his aura to try to subdue the visitors.
• Lin Lang repelled Island Master Long's aura and declared that his word was the rule on Xia Ke Island.