Chapter Summaries

Zhao Layue and Gu Qing traveled to Chaoge City, where she asked the Duke of Lu to arrange a private meeting with Consort Hu. The Duke of Lu recognized her visit as a sign of Divine End Peak’s influence and revealed that the Emperor had already asked him to arrange her entry into the palace.

• Zhao Layue gave the owner of the Precious Tree Residence Three Purities Grass and told him to make it appear wherever she needed to find it.
• Gu Qing questioned the owner about the residence’s protective formations and confirmed that he knew how to bypass them without raising an alarm.
• Zhao Layue and Gu Qing visited the Zhao Household’s empty country estate, then entered Chaoge City in the spring rain.
• Zhao Layue used a hidden mechanism to signal the Duke of Lu and asked him to arrange a meeting with Consort Hu.
• The Duke of Lu told his heir that Zhao Layue’s visit showed the Duke’s Residence had served Divine End Peak, and said the Emperor had already asked him to arrange her entry into the palace.

Zhao Layue and Gu Qing secretly met Consort Hu in the palace and offered a way to protect her unborn child through the Zen Child. They warned that she could not rely on the Zhongzhou Sect while Luo Huainan supported Jing Xin, and Consort Hu agreed to help Gu Qing find Luo Huainan.

• Duke of Lu introduced two visitors to Consort Hu, and Zhao Layue and Gu Qing emerged from behind a pillar.
• Zhao Layue warned Consort Hu that her three-year pregnancy could expose her as a fox spirit and put her child at risk.
• Zhao Layue said the Zen Child could vouch for Consort Hu because he still owed Divine End Peak a favor.
• Zhao Layue told Consort Hu that Luo Huainan would lead the Zhongzhou Sect to support Jing Xin, while Gu Qing warned her that her child needed a chance to contend.
• Consort Hu asked what Zhao Layue wanted, and Gu Qing asked her to reveal Luo Huainan's whereabouts.

Zhao Layue accepted the First Child Sword from Jin Mingcheng, while the North Stream Sect’s journey to auction a Law Treasure was ambushed by the Profound Yin Sect. The attack reached a turning point when the sect’s endangered disciple faced the elder’s Yin Banner and a bronze bell appeared.

• Consort Hu questioned Zhao Layue about whether she suspected her of orchestrating the assassination attempt, and Zhao Layue dismissed the suspicion based on the evidence.
• Jin Mingcheng offered Zhao Layue the hidden First Child Sword, explaining that the Emperor could not always act openly, and she accepted it.
• The North Stream Sect traveled toward Guiyun City with an Earth Tier Law Treasure intended for auction, while its disciples discussed the rumored Three Purities Grass.
• The Profound Yin Sect ambushed the North Stream Sect, demanding the treasure, and its elder broke through their formation and attacked the disciples.
• The elder swept an ordinary-looking North Stream Sect disciple toward his Yin Banner, but a small bronze bell appeared before him.

Luo Huainan revealed himself as the bait in a trap, killed a Profound Yin Sect elder, and traveled to Guiyun City to recover while drawing out the Never-Old Forest. Alone in the courtyard, he regretted how he had treated his junior sister before a Man in Black appeared at the door.

• Luo Huainan used the Bronze Bell to kill the injured Profound Yin Sect elder, then ordered the North Stream Sect master and disciples to pursue the fleeing disciples.
• The North Stream Sect master and disciples returned after killing seven Profound Yin Sect disciples, and Luo Huainan revealed that Su Ziye had been his intended target.
• Luo Huainan agreed to rest in Guiyun City, where the North Stream Sect disciples guarded his courtyard as rumors spread about a bounty on his life.
• While recovering, Luo Huainan recalled his junior sister’s hardships and regretted his past actions toward her.
• Luo Huainan reflected that his journey to Guiyun City was deliberate, meant to create an opportunity for the Never-Old Forest to assassinate him.
• A Man in Black, drenched as if he had climbed out of the well, appeared in Luo Huainan’s doorway.

Luo Huainan and the Man in Black planned a staged assassination to draw attention, while Zhao Layue waited nearby and Gu Qing prepared for the auction. The attack turned real when the Man in Black struck Luo Huainan with overwhelming demonic fire, revealing himself as Liu S sui.

• Luo Huainan and the Man in Black planned an assassination scene, agreeing on how they would fight and how badly Luo Huainan would be injured.
• Gu Qing waited alone in the Precious Artifacts Pavilion as the auction prepared to begin, while Zhao Layue watched the courtyard where Luo Huainan was staying.
• The Man in Black emerged from a wardrobe and attacked Luo Huainan with demonic fire, then pursued him as he used the Heaven and Earth Escape Method.
• The Man in Black struck Luo Huainan's chest and continued pouring demonic fire into him instead of following their plan.
• Luo Huainan realized the attack was genuine, and his blood tore through the Man in Black's covering to reveal Liu S sui.

Liu S sui and Zhao Layue killed Luo Huainan after a concealed sword strike and coordinated assault shattered his Golden Core. Luo Huainan's Nascent Soul escaped to a hidden cave near Yunmeng Mountain, where Tong Yan trapped and wounded it.

• Liu S sui attacked Luo Huainan, but Luo Huainan used the Northern Dipper Bell to smash his sword and knock him back.
• A concealed sword pierced Luo Huainan, and Zhao Layue revealed her Formless Sword Body as she joined Liu S sui in the fight.
• Liu S sui struck Luo Huainan's lower abdomen and shattered his Golden Core, allowing Zhao Layue to cut off his head.
• Zhao Layue and Liu S sui escaped, while Gu Qing helped Zhao Layue conceal evidence of their involvement at the Precious Artifacts Pavilion.
• Luo Huainan's Nascent Soul fled through a well to a hidden cave, where Tong Yan trapped it in a net of light.

Tong Yan confronted Luo Huainan’s trapped Nascent Soul and revealed how he had engineered the plot that led to Luo’s capture. After explaining Luo’s past betrayal and his reasons for clinging to life, Tong Yan let the trap kill him.

• Tong Yan accused Luo Huainan of killing their junior sister to take her Ten-Thousand-Li Seal and explained why he had suspected him.
• Tong Yan admitted he had set the trap, using Ma Hua’s ambition and Liu S sui’s loyalty to Jing Jiu to bring Luo Huainan down.
• Luo Huainan begged Tong Yan to spare him, but Tong Yan said his repentance and self-inflicted suffering could not erase his crime.
• Luo Huainan explained that fear of death had driven his past choice, and Tong Yan insisted he still had to pay for failing the trial.
• Tong Yan refused Luo Huainan’s hope that they might meet again, and the trap collapsed, reducing the Nascent Soul to blue smoke.

After Luo Huainan was killed in Guihua City, investigators found traces of demon fire, Blood Demonic Cultivation Method, and Green Mountain sword intent. Ren Qianzhu confronted Zhao Layue at the Precious Artifacts Pavilion, and the chapter ended with Green Mountain Sect disciples arriving in response to his accusation.

• The Pure Heaven Bureau investigated Luo Huainan’s death while the Grand Elder of the Water-Moon Convent examined the ruined courtyard and detected demon fire, Blood Demonic Cultivation Method, and Green Mountain sword intent.
• Ren Qianzhu learned that Zhao Layue was in Guihua City and went to the Precious Artifacts Pavilion to confront her.
• Ren Qianzhu demanded to know where Zhao Layue had been when Luo Huainan died and accused her after hearing that Green Mountain sword intent had been found at the scene.
• Gu Qing pointed out that Luo Huainan’s presence in the city also needed explaining, and Zhang Yiai clarified that Zhao Layue had come to seek Three Purities Grass at the auction.
• Zhao Layue remained silent as Ren Qianzhu pressed his accusation, and more than a dozen Green Mountain Sect disciples arrived in the sky above Guihua City.

After Luo Huainan was killed, the investigators identified the Green Mountain sword intent and Blood Demon method as pointing toward the expelled disciple Liu S sui, while the Water-Moon Convent’s letter revealed that another sword, First Child, had also been involved. Guo Nanshan and the others remained uncertain about who the real killer was as they accepted blame and mourned Luo Huainan.

• Chi Yan arrived with Green Mountain disciples and rejected the accusation that Zhao Layue had killed Luo Huainan, while Guo Nanshan said Liu S sui might be responsible.
• Tong Yan confirmed that the evidence of the Blood Demon Evil Cultivation Method made Liu S sui a likely suspect, and recalled that he had been expelled from Green Mountain after secretly practicing an evil method.
• Duke He questioned who the second attacker was, and a letter from the Water-Moon Convent identified the other sword as First Child, alarming Ren Qianzhu, Chi Yan, and Duke He.
• Guo Nanshan, Gu Han, and Ma Hua considered whether Liu S sui had truly joined the Never-Old Forest and agreed to report what happened while seeking the real killer.
• Tong Yan crushed a bottle of something Luo Huainan had liked and scattered it before the ruined courtyard as the restrictions around Guihua City were lifted.

Zhao Layue discussed Luo Huainan’s death and the political dangers with the Green Mountain Sect Master, then learned the First Child Sword belonged to a Sword Evader. The Green Mountain and Zhongzhou sects jointly blamed Liu S sui for Luo Huainan’s death and launched a continent-wide hunt for him.

• The Green Mountain Sect Master questioned Zhao Layue about Luo Huainan’s death, and she admitted she wanted him dead because he had wanted Jing Jiu dead.
• Zhao Layue asked whose sword the First Child Sword was, but the Sect Master did not answer; Gu Qing later identified it as a Sword Evader’s sword.
• Zhao Layue and Gu Qing entered seclusion, while Gu Qing told the youth surnamed Yuan to ask the monkeys to watch the village.
• The Green Mountain Sect Master visited Yunmeng Mountain, and the two sects issued a joint decree naming Liu S sui as Luo Huainan’s killer and offering rewards for his capture or death.
• Portraits and information about Liu S sui spread across the Chaotian Continent, making him a hunted fugitive with nowhere to find respite.

Liu S sui protected his parents from rogue cultivators and exposed himself while saving a family in a remote town. After Three Purities Sect disciples and a rogue cultivator found him, the rogue cultivator attacked the disciples, but Liu S sui’s flying sword stopped the strike.

• Two rogue cultivators plotted to abduct Liu S sui’s parents, but Xueliu killed one and drove the other away from the village, which was forbidden ground belonging to Green Mountain.
• Liu S sui stopped a runaway carriage in town, caught the child who had been thrown from it, and then left before the crowd could react.
• In the woods outside town, Liu S sui discovered two Three Purities Sect disciples and a rogue cultivator who had witnessed his rescue.
• The rogue cultivator promised to buy Liu S sui time if he agreed not to kill them, then attacked the two disciples with a Law Artifact.
• Liu S sui’s flying sword appeared in the air and kept the two Three Purities Sect disciples from being killed.

Liu S sui fled after killing the Rogue Cultivator and sparing two Three Purities Sect disciples, but his attempt to evade pursuit left him badly wounded and hiding in a remote gorge. An old scholar found him there and wondered how he had survived so long.

• Liu S sui killed the Rogue Cultivator who had tried to enlist him in a plot, then spared the two Three Purities Sect disciples and left them with a family in town.
• Liu S sui encountered bandits in the mountain forest, killed their leader, and let the others flee when he realized his whereabouts might be exposed.
• Liu S sui abandoned the Never-Old Forest contact point and raced away through the mountains.
• Two days later, Liu S sui escaped several powerful Rogue Cultivators by jumping into an underground river, then hid, gravely wounded, in a stream gorge.
• An old scholar appeared in the gorge and asked Liu S sui how someone like him had survived this long.

After recovering from his injuries, Liu Sui met the Never-Old Forest’s leader, the Western Prince, who accepted his explanation for killing Luo Huainan and offered him a place in the organization. Liu Sui agreed to cultivate the sword on his own terms, and the Western Prince revealed his identity.

• The Old Scholar of One-Thatch Studio used a spell to escape with Liu Sui as Lei Ming and Qian Sicai arrived too late to find them.
• Liu Sui recovered in a cave abode, then followed the Old Scholar through mountain gorges and underground passages to a Sea God Temple by the Western Sea.
• Inside the temple, Liu Sui told the Man in Black that he killed Luo Huainan because he believed Luo had harmed Jing Jiu, and learned that his sword was called First Child.
• The Man in Black accepted Liu Sui’s explanation and offered him a place in the Never-Old Forest, asking him to prove that he could master peerless swordsmanship outside Green Mountain Sword Sect.
• Liu Sui demanded resources, a safe cave abode, and the right to choose his missions; the Man in Black agreed and identified himself as the Western Prince.

Three years after entering seclusion, Gu Qing emerged and joined the Sword-Testing Assembly, where he advanced to the Plum Gathering's Dao Battle using the Heaven-Bearing Sword Art. As he traveled toward Chaoge City, he grew wary of Fang Jingtian, the Peak Master leading the Green Mountain party.

• The youth surnamed Yuan woke Gu Qing and told him the cold mist had cleared and the Plum Gathering would proceed, while Zhao Layue was still in seclusion to break through into Wandering the Wilds.
• Gu Qing decided not to disturb his master's sealed cave and arranged for Divine End Peak to take part in the Sword-Testing Assembly.
• Gu Qing defeated several opponents with the Heaven-Bearing Sword Art and revealed that he had entered the Upper Wuzhang Realm twenty days earlier.
• The youth surnamed Yuan qualified for the Plum Gathering's Dao Battle after a fortunate series of matchups, including Lei Yijing forfeiting.
• Gu Qing saw Junior Sister Yushan cry as she and the youth surnamed Yuan parted, then silently promised to bring his master's remains home.
• Aboard the Sword Boat to Chaoge City, Gu Qing learned that Fang Jingtian was leading the Green Mountain party and recalled his clan elder's warning to pay attention to him.

Gu Qing attended the Plum Gathering in Chaoge City, where the Dao Battle was set to investigate the retreating cold mist at the Snowfield. As his team advanced northwest, they caught up with the groups led by Xiang Wanshu and Tonglu, leaving his companions uncertain of his intentions.

• Gu Qing received lavish gifts from the Zhao Household and explained to Yuan that Shiyue Peak and Jade Lake Peak resented their loss of influence over Precious Tree Residence.
• Gu Qing and Yuan visited the Jing Household and Zhao Household, then attended the Plum Gathering, where the first four events passed quietly as everyone awaited the Dao Battle.
• Tonglu confronted Gu Qing at West Mountain Residence and threatened him over his suspected connection to Liu S sui; Gu Qing calmly challenged him to consider what he would do if that day came.
• With the cold mist retreating, the young cultivators entered the Snowfield to investigate its condition and search for Snow Nation Monsters and the remains of earlier participants.
• After finding only corpses and abandoned belongings, Gu Qing led his team northwest and rapidly approached the leading groups of Xiang Wanshu and Tonglu.

Gu Qing and Xiang Wanshu followed the Green Bamboo Token to a cliff where Bai Zao was still alive, then led the young cultivators in digging through the frozen Snowfield to reach the cave. They broke through and found Jing Jiu alive on a bamboo reclining chair, where he remarked that they had made too much of a commotion.

• Gu Qing and Xiang Wanshu agreed to travel together, hoping to find the Ten-Thousand-Li Seal and Unthought Sword among the remains in the Snowfield.
• The cold mist cleared, and Xiang Wanshu's Green Bamboo Token began glowing, prompting him and Gu Qing to race toward the black mountains.
• Xiang Wanshu sensed that Bai Zao was alive inside a cave sealed by cold mist, and Gu Qing proposed digging a sloping passage through the Snowfield to reach her.
• Gu Qing and Xiang Wanshu began digging, and the Dao Battle participants joined them until the stone wall at the passage's end collapsed.
• Gu Qing saw Jing Jiu alive on a bamboo reclining chair behind the burning Iron Sword, and Jing Jiu told them they had made too much of a commotion.

Jing Jiu was rescued after surviving six years in the cold mist, while the others discovered Bai Zao cocooned in a strange shell. After Gu Qing told him Luo Huainan’s account of the past six years, Jing Jiu immediately declared it false.

• Gu Qing and the other cultivators reunited with Jing Jiu, who was so weak that he could barely move and had nearly exhausted his sword essence.
• The Zhongzhou Sect disciples found Bai Zao inside a gold-and-jade-like cocoon, and Jing Jiu said she would emerge in two days.
• Jing Jiu extinguished the Iron Sword’s flames, swallowed a Hundred-Grass Pill, and fell asleep as Gu Qing and the youth surnamed Yuan watched over him.
• Jing Jiu woke during the night and walked out onto the Snowfield with Gu Qing, explaining that he had endured the cold mist by carefully managing his dwindling true essence.
• Gu Qing briefly recounted Luo Huainan’s story about the six years, and Jing Jiu said it was false.

Jing Jiu learned how Luo Huainan had died and watched Bai Zao continue her cultivation in the snow cocoon. As the cocoon began to soften, Jing Jiu left the cave, and a loose thread drifted free.

• Gu Qing told Jing Jiu that Twelfth Month had killed Luo Huainan with the First Child Sword, while Liu S sui had vanished and Twelfth Month was in seclusion.
• Jing Jiu entered the cliff cave and confirmed that Bai Zao was safely cultivating inside the snow cocoon.
• Jing Jiu found a Snow Armored Beetle that wanted to follow him and sensed that the distant solitary peak had become calmer but more ominous.
• Gu Qing learned that no teachers or elders would come to escort them and reassured Xiang Wanshu that Bai Zao was fine.
• The next evening, Jing Jiu left the cave as a thread loosened from Bai Zao's snow cocoon.

Bai Zao emerged from the snow cocoon at the peak of the Golden Core stage, and she and Jing Jiu returned from the snowfield after surviving six years in the cold mist. As the cultivation leaders questioned them about what happened, Jing Jiu later asked Gu Qing and the youth surnamed Yuan whether Fang Jingtian had acted strangely.

• Bai Zao broke out of the snow cocoon, reached the peak of the Golden Core stage, and bowed to Jing Jiu in thanks.
• The Plum Gathering's Dao Battle ended, and Jing Jiu and Bai Zao returned to the plain aboard the Zhongzhou Sect's cloud ship.
• Bai Zao told the cultivation leaders that Jing Jiu had used Sword Flame to warm the cave and taught her a cultivation method while she recovered.
• Jing Jiu told the leaders he had reached Middle Wuzhang, and they praised him while regretting that he had not cultivated during the six years.
• Jing Jiu asked Gu Qing and the youth surnamed Yuan whether Fang Jingtian had behaved unusually, and Gu Qing said he had noticed nothing specific.

Jing Jiu told Gu Qing that Fang Jingtian had tried to kill him and asked him to plan for what might happen, while Yin San discussed choosing between Xiao Ming and Su Ziye as the Profound Yin Sect’s successor. Before returning to Green Mountain, Bai Zao confessed her affection for Jing Jiu, and Tonglu challenged him to a duel over Luo Huainan’s death; Jing Jiu then arrived back at Sword-Washing Creek.

• Jing Jiu told Gu Qing about Fang Jingtian’s two attempts on his life and asked him to work out what Fang Jingtian might do and how they should respond.
• Yin San told the short, thin old man that he would visit Xiao Ming and let Xiao Ming or Su Ziye win the right to become the Profound Yin Sect’s successor.
• Bai Zao told Jing Jiu she wished she had awakened earlier so she could have learned more about him, and Jing Jiu evaded her affection by saying they might meet again if fate allowed.
• Tonglu challenged Jing Jiu to a duel because Liu S sui had killed Luo Huainan, and Bai Zao and Jing Jiu discussed why Luo Huainan had told Tonglu a false story.
• Jing Jiu returned to Green Mountain, and Sword-Washing Disciples gathered at the windows to watch his Sword Boat descend.