Chapter Summaries

At the Ten Thousand Zithers Banquet, zither cultivators failed to gain the Emperor Weapon Spring Thunder’s recognition, including Jian Changfeng and several prominent Heavenly Prides. Zither Demon and Painting Ghost arrived, and Zither Demon prepared to claim Spring Thunder with his Yin Demon Zither.

• The Ji Family head revealed the Emperor Weapon Spring Thunder, and the Phantom Sound Sect Master invited the assembled zither cultivators to seek its recognition.
• A white-robed zither player failed to move Spring Thunder, and Jian Changfeng sent him away before attempting to win the Emperor Weapon himself.
• Jian Changfeng’s forceful zither music made Spring Thunder tremble briefly but failed to earn its recognition.
• Li Changyin, Yang Xiyun, Ji Xiaoyao, and the other zither cultivators played together, but Spring Thunder remained still.
• Zither Demon and Painting Ghost appeared above the square, and Zither Demon declared that he would accept Spring Thunder as his own.
• Zither Demon took out his sinister Yin Demon Zither.

The Zither Demon tried to make Spring Thunder acknowledge him while the Painting Ghost trapped the Ji Family Head and two other Quasi-Emperors in a painted world. When Spring Thunder rejected the Zither Demon, he tried to seize it by force, but Chu Kuangren arrived as ten thousand zithers played to welcome him.

• The Zither Demon appeared with the Yin Demon Zither and announced that he would claim Spring Thunder, while the Painting Ghost drew the Ji Family Head and two other Quasi-Emperors into his painted world.
• The Zither Demon played the Yin Demon Zither to subdue Spring Thunder, and he blasted Jian Changfeng away when Jian Changfeng tried to stop him.
• Spring Thunder rejected the Zither Demon and blasted him back with its emperor Dao pressure.
• The enraged Zither Demon tried to take Spring Thunder by force, but the Emperor Weapon's lightning shield resisted him.
• Chu Kuangren arrived, and the surrounding guqins played together as if welcoming him.

Chu Kuangren arrived at the Ten Thousand Zithers Banquet and revealed mastery of the Zither Dao beyond Zither Demon's, then faced Zither Demon and Painting Ghost's combined technique. As their fused attack bore down on him, he summoned his zither and prepared to unleash his greatest music.

• Chu Kuangren arrived at the Ten Thousand Zithers Banquet, and ten thousand zithers responded to his profound Daoist Rhyme.
• Chu Kuangren blocked Zither Demon's attack with Psychic Power, formed a zither string from qi, and struck him with Yellow Bell and Great Lü.
• Painting Ghost joined Zither Demon, and the two unleashed their Demon Music, Ghost Painting technique against Chu Kuangren.
• Chu Kuangren endured their assault and declared that they would hear the true music of heaven before shouting, "Zither, come!"

Chu Kuangren summoned the Emperor Weapon Spring Thunder and used the Gods and Devils Eight Tones to defeat the Zither Demon and Painting Ghost. After killing the Painting Ghost and gaining the sects’ admiration, he faced a warning from Jian Changfeng.

• Chu Kuangren summoned Spring Thunder, which flew through the Painting Ghost’s world and accepted him as its master.
• Chu Kuangren played the Gods and Devils Eight Tones, shattered the painted world, and gravely wounded the Zither Demon and Painting Ghost.
• The Zither Demon learned Chu Kuangren’s name and died content, while Chu Kuangren stopped the Painting Ghost’s escape and killed him.
• Chu Kuangren collected the two men’s Heaven and Earth Rings as the Rare Sound Sect Master and other cultivators congratulated him and sought his friendship.
• Jian Changfeng warned the others to be careful whom they befriended.

Jian Changfeng warned other factions that Chu Kuangren had offended the Sword Clan, while the Rare Sound Sect Master expelled Chu Kuangren and the Mystic Heaven Sect to protect her sect. After parting from Yang Xiyun, Murong Xuan vowed to become an Emperor so he could overcome the obstacles between them.

• Jian Changfeng put Chu Kuangren on the Sword Clan's blacklist, causing the factions and zither cultivators to distance themselves from Chu Kuangren.
• The Phantom Sound Sect Master demanded Spring Thunder back, but Chu Kuangren refused, pointing out that the Emperor Weapon had recognized him as its master.
• A Grudge Sword Guard of the Shadow Sword Guards appeared before Jian Changfeng and said he wanted his help with Chu Kuangren.
• The Rare Sound Sect Master ordered Chu Kuangren and the Mystic Heaven Sect to leave the Rare Sound Sect, and she offered Murong Xuan spirit source to separate him from Yang Xiyun.
• Murong Xuan refused the spirit source, said goodbye to Yang Xiyun, and declared to Chu Kuangren that he wanted to become an Emperor.

After Murong Xuan resolved to pursue Emperorhood, Chu Kuangren refined Spring Thunder and accepted Jian Changfeng’s challenge at Ye City. He discovered the city’s population had been slaughtered in a mysterious formation and cut down Jian Changfeng’s puppet, while the real Jian Changfeng watched from afar in terror.

• Murong Xuan declared that he would become an Emperor, and Chu Kuangren encouraged his resolve.
• Chu Kuangren finished refining Spring Thunder, then learned Jian Changfeng had challenged him to a battle at Ye City.
• Chu Kuangren left Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue at the inn with protective strands of Sword Qi and went to investigate Ye City.
• Chu Kuangren found traces of a grand formation around Ye City and discovered that its residents had all been killed.
• Jian Changfeng blamed the deaths on Chu Kuangren, but Chu Kuangren dismissed his attempt to unsettle him and attacked with a strand of Sword Qi.
• Chu Kuangren split Jian Changfeng’s body in two, only to discover it was a rune-inscribed Substitute Puppet while the real Jian Changfeng watched from a distance.

Chu Kuangren confronted the Grudge Sword Guard, who unleashed the Blood Resentment Grand Formation fueled by the deaths of nearly ten million people in Ye City. Chu Kuangren resisted the vengeful spirits’ attacks and used Buddha light to destroy the cloud of resentful qi, leaving the formation collapsing.

• Chu Kuangren cut through the Grudge Sword Guard’s disguise and repelled the old man’s surprise sword attack.
• The Grudge Sword Guard activated the Blood Resentment Grand Formation, gathering resentful qi from Ye City’s corpses into a hundred-mile cloud.
• The formation sent vengeful spirits to torment Chu Kuangren, but he remained calm and his Dao Heart was unaffected.
• Chu Kuangren manifested a towering Ancient Buddha whose palm purified the vengeful spirits and shattered the cloud of resentful qi.
• The Blood Resentment Grand Formation around Ye City shook and began to collapse.

Chu Kuangren battled the Grudge Sword Guard in Ye City, breaking the Blood Resentment Grand Formation and revealing his mastery of both sword and zither arts. The Grudge Sword Guard absorbed more resentful qi and charged again as Chu Kuangren played the Gods and Devils Eight Tones.

• The Grudge Sword Guard absorbed resentful qi, transforming his body at the cost of his lifespan, and attacked Chu Kuangren.
• Chu Kuangren tracked the Grudge Sword Guard’s speed and met his Blood Resentment Slash with the Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Art, shattering the Blood Resentment Grand Formation.
• Cultivators sensed the battle and recognized Chu Kuangren, marveling at his power and multiple Supreme Dao Bodies.
• Chu Kuangren summoned Spring Thunder and played Yellow Bell and Great Lü, forcing the Grudge Sword Guard to retreat.
• The Grudge Sword Guard absorbed more resentful qi and charged at Chu Kuangren, who swept his fingers across the strings to play the Gods and Devils Eight Tones.

In Seven-String City, Charm Sword Guard attacked Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue to use them against Chu Kuangren, but Chu Kuangren’s Spirit Thought clone overwhelmed her and ordered them to keep her alive. In Ye City, Chu Kuangren turned his full attention back to Grudge Sword Guard.

• Charm Sword Guard confronted Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue, intending to capture them while Grudge Sword Guard kept Chu Kuangren occupied.
• Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue fought Charm Sword Guard together, but she swallowed a pill and unleashed her Quasi-Emperor-level No Light Sword Domain.
• Murong Xuan’s purple Sword Qi shattered the domain, and Shang Qingxue’s Sword Qi manifested as Chu Kuangren’s Spirit Thought clone.
• Chu Kuangren appeared before Charm Sword Guard, crushed her sword with his pressure, and pierced her chest with a single strike.
• Chu Kuangren told Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue to keep Charm Sword Guard alive, then returned his attention to Grudge Sword Guard in Ye City.

Chu Kuangren killed the Grudge Sword Guard and enslaved Jian Changfeng with a Soul-Controlling Slave Seal, turning him into an informant inside the Sword Clan. He purified Ye City of its corpses and vengeful spirits before returning to Seven-String City, while the event drew the attention of Mount Putuo Temple.

• Chu Kuangren used Spring Thunder and heavenly punishment Daoist rhyme to break the Grudge Sword Guard, who was devoured by the vengeful spirits formed from his resentful qi.
• Chu Kuangren restrained Jian Changfeng and planted a Soul-Controlling Slave Seal in his soul, then ordered him to return to the Sword Clan and report any news.
• Chu Kuangren burned the corpses in Ye City and used Buddha light to purify its resentful qi and release the vengeful spirits.
• Chu Kuangren left Ye City and returned to Seven-String City after purifying it.
• Word of Ye City's purification spread across the region and reached Mount Putuo Temple, attracting the attention of its eminent monks.

After finding the inn destroyed, Chu Kuangren paid for the damage and tracked down Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue, who had captured the Charm Sword Guard. He branded her with a Soul-Controlling Slave Seal, saved her when she tried to kill herself, and continued toward the end of the Emperor Road with her in custody.

• Chu Kuangren paid the innkeeper for the ruined inn after the Rare Sound Sect Master mocked him and Yang Xiyun offered to cover the cost.
• Chu Kuangren contacted Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue and found them with the captured Charm Sword Guard in a mountain forest.
• Chu Kuangren learned that the Charm Sword Guard possessed the Supreme Dao Body known as the Dark Fallen Body and branded her soul with a Soul-Controlling Slave Seal.
• The Charm Sword Guard attacked Chu Kuangren, then tried to kill herself rather than betray the Sword Clan and the Sword Daoist, but Chu Kuangren healed her.
• Chu Kuangren sealed the Charm Sword Guard's Spiritual Power with a collar and left her in Shang Qingxue's custody as the group continued along the Emperor Road.

Chu Kuangren used the Soul-Controlling Slave Seal to subdue the Charm Sword Guard and learned about the Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven in Heavenly Mystic Dao Province. He sent her back with the Azure Glass Divine Lamp to draw the Sword Daoist toward its connected opportunity, then arrived in the province with Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue.

• Chu Kuangren asked the Charm Sword Guard about nearby opportunities, and the slave seal made her reveal that the Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven was in Heavenly Mystic Dao Province.
• Chu Kuangren had Shang Qingxue take the bloodstained Charm Sword Guard to wash and change, while the seal punished her whenever she disrespected him.
• Over several days, the Charm Sword Guard's hatred of Chu Kuangren shifted into fear and reverence, and she asked when he would let her leave.
• Chu Kuangren released the Charm Sword Guard and gave her the Azure Glass Divine Lamp to return to the Sword Daoist, hoping he would find the opportunity linked to it.
• The Charm Sword Guard gave Chu Kuangren a jade scroll containing information about the Sword Clan and the Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven, then vanished into the darkness.
• Chu Kuangren arrived in Heavenly Mystic Dao Province with Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue, and they began investigating the Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven.

Charm Sword Guard returned the Azure Glass Divine Lamp to the Sword Clan and was appointed as one of the Sword Daoist’s shadow guards. As Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven prepared to open, the Sword Daoist planned to send a powerful clone and revealed that he intended to keep Charm Sword Guard devoted to him despite loving Ningyu.

• Charm Sword Guard admitted she had failed to kill Chu Kuangren, then explained that she had recovered the Azure Glass Divine Lamp by using his disciples as leverage.
• The Sword Clan Leader accepted Charm Sword Guard’s account, appointed her to the Sword Daoist’s vacant shadow guard position, and rewarded her with a Black Cloud Iron Beast’s beast core.
• The Sword Daoist arrived in a clone possessing eighty percent of his strength and said he would enter Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven because his true body remained in seclusion.
• The Sword Daoist vowed to settle Charm Sword Guard’s grievance against Chu Kuangren, while she privately thought Chu Kuangren could easily defeat him.
• After Charm Sword Guard left, the Sword Daoist told the Sword Clan Leader that he mentioned Ningyu to keep Charm Sword Guard yearning for him and under his control.

Murong Xuan challenged Xiao Jingchen for a Quasi-Emperor-grade spirit medicine and fought him to a standstill, surprising the spectators with the strength of his Heaven-Burning Divine Art. As the duel intensified and a crowd gathered, Xiao Jingchen grew anxious and prepared to use another method.

• Chu Kuangren, Shang Qingxue, and Murong Xuan arrived at the mountain range where the Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven was due to open in two days, and Chu Kuangren gave Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue a list of nearby treasures.
• Murong Xuan found a spirit medicine at a volcanic crater that could help advance his Heaven-Burning Divine Art, but Xiao Jingchen attacked him and claimed it.
• Murong Xuan refused to yield and challenged Xiao Jingchen, who recognized him as a member of the Mystic Heaven Sect and asked whether Chu Kuangren was nearby.
• Murong Xuan and Xiao Jingchen exchanged powerful attacks, while Chu Kuangren sensed the fight and opened his eyes.
• Xiao Jingchen realized Murong Xuan's cultivation technique let his Crimson Sun Dao Body match the power of Xiao Jingchen's Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable Body, and he grew anxious as the battle drew spectators.

Xiao Jingchen used an Emperor Weapon against Murong Xuan, but Chu Kuangren’s distant sword strike defeated him and claimed the Spirit Medicine. Bai Hongyu arrived and challenged Chu Kuangren, ending the chapter as she attacked him with a giant red palm.

• Xiao Jingchen summoned an Emperor Weapon and a heavenly venerable dharma form to attack Murong Xuan.
• Chu Kuangren’s sword strike shattered Xiao Jingchen’s spear attack, severed the dharma form’s hands, and gravely wounded him.
• Chu Kuangren told Xiao Jingchen he would take the Spirit Medicine, and Xiao Jingchen agreed without resistance.
• Bai Hongyu arrived and challenged Chu Kuangren to withstand one of her moves.
• Chu Kuangren dismissed Bai Hongyu’s challenge, and she attacked him with a gigantic red palm imprint.

Chu Kuangren blocked Bai Hongyu’s attack and sent her flying with the Sorrowful Heaven Palm before the Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven opened. He entered the grotto-heaven with Shang Qingxue and Murong Xuan, then used the Treasure-Seeking Art to find rare treasures.

• Bai Hongyu’s palm strike failed to harm Chu Kuangren, who remained unscathed within the crater it created.
• Chu Kuangren countered with the Sorrowful Heaven Palm and sent Bai Hongyu crashing into a mountain, where her Quasi-Emperor Weapon armor protected her.
• Bai Hongyu asked whether Chu Kuangren had ties to the Seven Emotions Sect, but the Ten Thousand Wonders Grotto-Heaven opened before he could question her further.
• Chu Kuangren entered the grotto-heaven with Shang Qingxue and Murong Xuan and sensed that its spiritual qi was more than ten times denser than outside.
• Chu Kuangren used the Treasure-Seeking Art to locate Quasi-Emperor-grade treasures and an Emperor-grade Desolate Origin Sword Grass, then led his companions to collect them.

Wang Xu, Mo Yifan, and Qin Feng fought over the Desolate Origin Sword Grass, but a powerful arrival interrupted them. The Sword Clan Daoist Seed appeared, his nine-orifice exquisite sword heart making the swords of everyone present tremble.

• Cultivators gathered around the Desolate Origin Sword Grass, and its Sword Qi killed a swordsman who tried to approach it.
• Qin Feng, Mo Yifan, and Wang Xu arrived and each sought to claim the sword grass.
• Wang Xu asked the others to yield, but Qin Feng and Mo Yifan refused.
• Mo Yifan attacked the sword grass, and Wang Xu intervened, sparking a clash between the three Heavenly Prides.
• A sharper Sword Dao aura swept over the gathering as two figures arrived, and the cultivators recognized one as the Sword Clan Daoist Seed with the nine-orifice exquisite sword heart.

The Sword Daoist defeated Qin Feng and claimed the Desolate Origin Sword Grass, until Chu Kuangren arrived and overwhelmed him in the Sword Dao. The chapter ended with Chu Kuangren identifying the Sword Daoist as a clone.

• The Sword Daoist announced that he would take the Desolate Origin Sword Grass and wounded Qin Feng with a single slash.
• The Sword Daoist battered Qin Feng with a storm of Sword Qi, then spared his life for Qin Tianchen's sake.
• The Sword Daoist silenced the other sword cultivators and reached for the Desolate Origin Sword Grass.
• Chu Kuangren arrived amid ten thousand welcoming swords, and the Sword Daoist could not control the blades around him.
• Chu Kuangren questioned the Sword Daoist's strength and revealed that he knew the Sword Daoist was a clone.

Chu Kuangren defeated the Sword Daoist’s clone with one strike and claimed the Desolate Origin Sword Grass. After learning from Jian Changfeng that the Sword Daoist sought the White Spirit Divine Fruit, Chu Kuangren decided to pursue the greater prize.

• The Sword Daoist revealed that he was a clone, but Chu Kuangren defeated him with a single sword strike and took the Desolate Origin Sword Grass.
• Wang Xu confronted Chu Kuangren over Wang Tianteng’s death, then backed down when Chu Kuangren asked if he wanted revenge.
• The Sword Daoist retreated with Jian Changfeng and recovered in a cave, resolving to seek the White Spirit Divine Fruit before challenging Chu Kuangren again.
• Jian Changfeng secretly contacted his master and reported the Sword Daoist’s plan to obtain the White Spirit Divine Fruit.
• Chu Kuangren learned about the White Spirit Divine Fruit and decided to pursue it rather than simply kill the Sword Daoist.

A female cultivator fought the Heavenly Ice Cold Python over its horn but was nearly killed before Chu Kuangren arrived and wounded the beast with a sword strike. Chu Kuangren faced the python and began battling it for the horn, while the female cultivator wondered about her unexpected feelings toward him.

• The female cultivator battled the Heavenly Ice Cold Python after coveting its horn, but her strongest attack only wounded it.
• The python trapped the female cultivator in ice and prepared to swallow her as she faced death.
• Chu Kuangren arrived and slashed the python’s horn, drawing its attention away from the female cultivator.
• The female cultivator felt her heart stir at the sight of Chu Kuangren and wondered what the feeling meant.
• Chu Kuangren demanded the python’s horn, then shattered its barrage of ice spikes with the Kunwu Sword.