Chapter Summaries

Zhao Layue learned that Fang Jingtian was pushing to appoint a new Green Mountain Sect Master, while Jing Jiu remained asleep in Chaoge City. Gu Qing refused to return to Green Mountain and shared a tearful moment with Empress Dowager Hu, who asked if he was going to leave her behind.

• Fang Jingtian proposed choosing a new Green Mountain Sect Master, and the sect prepared to settle the question at the Sword Trial the following spring.
• Yuan Qu told Zhao Layue that Gu Qing remained in Chaoge City, Ping Yongjia and A Piao had disappeared, and Tong Yan and Zhuo Rusui were still absent from public view.
• Yuan Qu reported that Jing Jiu had not woken and that Bu Qiuxiao was currently watching over him in Chaoge City.
• Gu Qing told Empress Dowager Hu that he did not intend to return to Green Mountain, even if Fang Jingtian became Sect Master and summoned him.
• Empress Dowager Hu asked whether Gu Qing would become dao companions with Zhen Tao before spring, and he admitted that he was fond of her.
• After they silently looked out the window together, Empress Dowager Hu asked Gu Qing whether he was going to leave her behind, and he saw that her eyes were filled with tears.

Gu Qing reflected on how Jing Jiu’s arrival had changed his life and how his guarded affection for Empress Dowager Hu had grown over many years. After finding her drinking alone, he took her hand and walked with her through the Imperial Garden, neither letting go.

• Gu Qing recalled leaving the Gu Household for Divine End Peak after Jing Jiu defeated him and his cultivation was suspended.
• He became Jing Jiu’s disciple, served Green Mountain and the imperial court, and eventually became regent while Jing Yao ruled.
• After the Divine Emperor died, Gu Qing found Consort Hu grieving and let her cling to him as she wept through the night.
• Years later, Hu’s teasing gaze helped Gu Qing break through into Wandering the Wilds, and they began secretly watching each other.
• After Gu Qing returned from seeing Zhen Tao off, he found Hu drinking alone, took her wine away, and invited her to walk in the garden.
• Hu caught Gu Qing’s hand as she stumbled, and the two walked hand in hand through the deserted Imperial Garden without letting go.

Gu Qing and Empress Dowager Hu confronted the limits of their relationship, and he promised to remain by her side even as he sought a life of his own. Meanwhile, Yue Qianmen stole the Heaven-Restoring Pearl containing their private conversation, but Yin San and his companions killed him and recovered it.

• Gu Qing and Empress Dowager Hu recalled their sixty years together and agreed he could pursue his own life while continuing to care for her.
• Yue Qianmen obtained the Heaven-Restoring Pearl from an old eunuch, hoping to use its recorded contents against Gu Qing and Green Mountain.
• Yin Phoenix forced Yue Qianmen into the open, and an invisible little sword pierced his skull before Profound Yin Ancestor swallowed him.
• Yue Qianmen detonated himself, but Profound Yin Ancestor suppressed the blast and spat out the Heaven-Restoring Pearl.
• Yin San played the recording of Gu Qing and Empress Dowager Hu's conversation, while Yin Phoenix defended Gu Qing and Profound Yin Ancestor killed the old eunuch.

Gu Qing learned that Yin San had evidence of his relationship with Empress Dowager Hu and agreed to carry out tasks for him in exchange for the Heaven-Restoring Pearl. After saying farewell to the people he cared about, Gu Qing resolved to lay a trap to kill True Person Taiping, expecting to die whether he succeeded or not.

• Gu Qing confided in his sleeping master Jing Jiu about his feelings for Empress Dowager Hu and his plans to become Zhen Tao’s dao companion.
• Gu Qing and Zhen Tao walked together beneath the stars, and news of their coming union spread through the cultivation world.
• Yin San showed Gu Qing images from the Heaven-Restoring Pearl and threatened the fallout, then demanded that he stop his preparations and perform tasks in exchange for the pearl.
• Gu Qing visited Empress Dowager Hu, Yuan Qijing, and Zhen Tao before returning to Jing Jiu’s bedside.
• Gu Qing decided to lay a trap to kill True Person Taiping and accepted that he would die whether or not the plan worked.

Tong Yan left Hidden Peak after learning that the Green Mountain Sect would choose a new Sect Master, and he reached Divine End Peak to discuss the coming Assembly with Zhao Layue and Yuan Qu. Zhao rejected his plan to back Shiyue Peak, leaving Tong Yan and Yuan Qu to search the sect rules while she departed on the Unthought Sword.

• Tong Yan left Hidden Peak, passed through the Sword Prison, and traveled toward Divine End Peak after hearing about the coming Sect Master selection.
• At Sword-Washing Creek, Tong Yan heard young Green Mountain disciples discuss the Zhongzhou Sect and the events at Chaoge City before instructors mistook him for a Zhongzhou Sect member.
• Tong Yan summoned a Daoist art to signal Twofold Forgetting Peak, and Gu Han arrived, identified him, and sent the instructors and disciples away.
• Tong Yan advised Yuan Qu that Divine End Peak should support Shiyue Peak's candidate, but Zhao Layue refused the plan.
• Zhao Layue left on the Unthought Sword, while Tong Yan and Yuan Qu searched through sect rules for another strategy; Yuan Qu worried that she would cleave them if she learned of their plan to put her forward as Sect Master.

Zhao Layue visited He Zhan and Se Se at the Snowfield, then spoke with the Blade Sage before flying into the Snowfield to seek combat. She left without explaining her deeper reasons, determined not to repeat Lian Sanyue’s path or alert the Snow Nation Queen.

• Zhao Layue met He Zhan and Se Se at a courtyard near White City, where they discussed the Snowfield, the wounded Blade Sage, and the coming contest over Cold Mountain.
• Zhao Layue told He Zhan and Se Se that her unstable cultivation required fighting, though they suspected she had another reason for coming.
• Zhao Layue visited the temple behind White City and asked the Blade Sage how he was recovering from his battle with the Snow Nation Queen.
• The Blade Sage warned Zhao Layue not to challenge the Queen alone and recalled Lian Sanyue’s failed attempt to gather cultivators for such a mission.
• Zhao Layue said she was neither Lian Sanyue nor seeking to become her, then flew into the Snowfield with the Unthought Sword concealing its bloody light.

Zhao Layue hunted Snow Nation Monsters deep in the snowfield and rested in the cave where Jing Jiu and Bai Zao had once been trapped. When she emerged and found a Kunlun elder had severed a Wind Saber Sect cultivator’s arm, she killed the elder.

• Zhao Layue crossed the snowfield, killing 762 Snow Monsters over more than seventy days.
• Zhao Layue found the cave where Jing Jiu and Bai Zao had been trapped, recognized traces of their time there, and rested.
• Peng Si, a Kunlun Sect elder, claimed the Snow Monster corpses as Kunlun territory and severed a Wind Saber Sect cultivator’s arm.
• Zhao Layue emerged from the cave and asked Peng Si his name; after learning who she was, he tried to leave.
• Zhao Layue cut off Peng Si’s right arm and killed him with sword intent.

Zhao Layue crossed the Abyss into the Snowfield, where she fought a growing number of Snow Enchantresses to temper her sword and approach the peak of the sea-breaking realm. After surviving the battle and trying to leave, she was ambushed by a powerful, unseen attacker and fell wounded onto a glacier.

• Zhao Layue killed Kunlun Sect elder Peng Si because he had injured Liu S sui years earlier, fulfilling Jing Jiu's promise to retaliate for him.
• Zhao Layue flew deep into the Snowfield, enjoying its solitude as she hunted monsters and admired the scenery.
• Zhao Layue killed six Snow Enchantresses on a blue glacier, then fought more than twenty and suffered serious injuries while killing several more.
• Zhao Layue realized the battle had tempered her dao tree and will, bringing her close to the sea-breaking peak, and turned to leave.
• The Snow Enchantresses hurled their companions at Zhao Layue, but she cut them apart with the Unthought Sword.
• An unseen attacker struck Zhao Layue from above with a Flying Sword; she caught it with her palms, but it pierced her body and sent her crashing onto the glacier.

Zhao Layue was gravely wounded by He Wei in the Snowfield and faced the approaching Snow Enchantresses near Peerless Ice Peak. At Green Mountain, Zhuo Rusui reached the Sea-Breaking peak, then learned Fang Jingtian planned to become Sect Master and said he would have to act.

• He Wei ambushed Zhao Layue with his True Nature Sword and left her badly wounded in the Snowfield.
• Zhao Layue suppressed He Wei's Sword Intent and fought the Snow Enchantresses, but they drove her into a crater below the glacier as she looked toward Peerless Ice Peak.
• A powerful but slow gray flying sword appeared at Heavenly Light Peak, and Guo Nanshan said it resembled their Master.
• Zhuo Rusui emerged from seclusion at the Sea-Breaking peak, and Yuan Qu told him he had advanced three years later than Jing Jiu had.
• Yuan Qu took Zhuo Rusui to Yunji Town for hotpot, where Tong Yan told him Fang Jingtian intended to become Sect Master next spring.
• Zhuo Rusui said he would have to make a move to prevent Fang Jingtian from taking the Sect Master's Seat.

At Jing Garden, Yuan Qu, Zhuo Rusui, and Tong Yan discussed putting Zhao Layue forward as Green Mountain’s sect master. Ping Yongjia and A Piao returned from the Netherworld expecting to attend the Green Mountain Assembly, but Gu Qing brought them to Chaoge City, where he explained that he could not return to Green Mountain and needed their help.

• Tong Yan told Yuan Qu and Zhuo Rusui that they intended to put Zhao Layue forward as sect master, and Zhuo Rusui agreed to support her if she counted him as a disciple.
• Ping Yongjia and A Piao returned from the Netherworld, where they had been helping A Piao contend for the Nether Emperor’s throne.
• The Green-Curtain Sedan brought Ping Yongjia and A Piao to Chaoge City, frightening A Piao until Ping Yongjia reassured her that no one was trying to capture her.
• Gu Qing welcomed Ping Yongjia and A Piao at the Jing Residence and sent them to see the sleeping Jing Jiu.
• Gu Qing told Ping Yongjia that he could not return to Green Mountain and needed their help because he had encountered problems there.

Gu Qing asked Ping Yongjia to help him capture or kill True Person Taiping by using the Zhuxian Sword Formation, while Zhao Layue fought the Snow Enchantresses alone in the Snowfield. The chapter left Zhao Layue exhausted and surrounded, expecting to die.

• Gu Qing sent A Piao to the Imperial Palace, where Empress Dowager Hu embraced her and Jing Yao later argued with his mother about her closeness to his Master.
• Gu Qing told Ping Yongjia that he had located True Person Taiping and needed his help to kill him with the Zhuxian Sword Formation.
• Ping Yongjia agreed to discuss the formation and the Three Hidden Forms of the Heaven-Bearing Sword Technique with Gu Qing.
• Zhao Layue resolved to rely on herself and fought the Snow Enchantresses through a day and night, suffering severe wounds while killing many of them.
• Five Snow Enchantresses surrounded Zhao Layue, who recognized that she could not continue and calmly faced her expected death.

After surviving the Snow Nation Queen’s overwhelming Divine Sense, Zhao Layue endured a brutal journey out of the Snowfield and collapsed when He Zhan found her. As Se Se and He Zhan struggled to keep her alive, Zhao Layue woke and explained that she had endured the pain because she had promised Jing Jiu she would live.

• The Snow Nation Queen’s Divine Sense entered Zhao Layue’s Sea of Consciousness, conveyed that they were alike and would both grow stronger, then withdrew.
• In White City, He Zhan learned Zhao Layue had not returned from the Snowfield and decided to go look for her despite Se Se’s concern.
• He Zhan reached Black Stone Mountain and found Zhao Layue emerging from the Snowfield, gravely wounded and barely able to walk.
• Zhao Layue recognized He Zhan as real rather than a hallucination and collapsed into his arms.
• The Wind Saber Sect tried to stabilize Zhao Layue while Se Se treated her wounds, but the Blade Sage admitted he had never seen injuries so severe.
• Zhao Layue woke and told He Zhan and Se Se that she could endure anything as long as she lived, because she had promised Jing Jiu she would live forever.

After recovering enough to survive, Zhao Layue learned that Gu Qing had summoned Ping Yongjia and A Piao to Chaoge City, possibly to use the Zhuxian Sword Formation against True Person Taiping. She chose to return to Green Mountain and challenge Fang Jingtian, while Gu Qing confided in his sleeping master before making his own move.

• True Person Guangyuan and Shiyue Peak elders treated Zhao Layue’s injuries with rare medicines and Sword Essence.
• Tong Yan told Zhao Layue that Gu Qing had summoned Ping Yongjia and A Piao to Chaoge City without explaining why.
• Tong Yan inferred that Gu Qing planned to use the Zhuxian Sword Formation to kill True Person Taiping, and Zhao Layue agreed to send him the Unthought Sword.
• Zhao Layue said she would return to Green Mountain to kill Fang Jingtian because the sect could not choose a new Sect Master while he remained alive.
• Gu Qing spoke to his sleeping master Jing Jiu about his doubts, his years in Chaoge City, and the nature he had kept hidden.

Gu Qing prepared for a dangerous undertaking, leaving Jing Jiu in the Jing Residence and setting Ping Yongjia to gather sword intent in the Imperial Palace. He went to the Old Plum Garden and greeted the red-clad youth in the little nunnery, where the chapter left their meeting poised to begin.

• Gu Qing tucked in Jing Jiu, then received the Unthought Sword from Zhao Layue and walked away from the Jing Residence.
• Liu S sui noticed Gu Qing's unusual behavior and went to investigate, while Little Lotus stayed behind with his food.
• Ping Yongjia summoned his sword intent in the Imperial Palace, and the First Child Sword flew from Jing Yao's sheath to him.
• Gu Qing wrapped the Universe Edge in coarse cloth and headed for the Old Plum Garden, as Liu S sui watched and the sword bracelet vibrated urgently.
• Gu Qing passed the busy Go stalls, entered the little nunnery, and bowed to the red-clad youth, greeting him as his Martial Uncle.

Gu Qing used the Unthought Sword and a Heaven-Bearing Sword Formation to trap Yin San in the Old Plum Garden, accepting that he might die to protect the Fox Demon Empress Dowager. As Yin San struck at him, the First Child Sword and Nondual Sword arrived, joining Universe Edge in a four-sword formation that recreated the Zhuxian Sword Formation.

• Gu Qing refused Yin San's remaining requests and revealed that he had used their meeting to bind Yin San with the Unthought Sword and activate the Heaven-Bearing Sword Formation.
• Yin San recognized Gu Qing's resolve to die and declared that the formation could not hold him, then attacked Gu Qing with a sword formed from the sound of his Bone Flute.
• Ping Yongjia sent the First Child Sword away from Imperial Palace Square, while Liu S sui reached the Old Plum Garden and the Nondual Sword flew from his sleeve into the nunnery.
• Gu Qing blocked Yin San's invisible sword with Universe Edge but was wounded, then attacked as the First Child Sword and Nondual Sword arrived.
• The Unthought Sword restrained Yin San while Universe Edge, the First Child Sword, and the Nondual Sword formed the Zhuxian Sword Formation.

Gu Qing trapped Yin San in the Imperial City Grand Formation at the Old Plum Garden and tried to kill or cripple him, while the Green Mountain Sect gathered to choose a new Sect Master. Fang Jingtian and True Person Guangyuan began a sword contest above the Void Realm, leaving the assembly to await its outcome.

• Yin San parried the swords of Gu Qing and the Divine End Peak disciples, but Gu Qing activated the Imperial City Grand Formation and bound Yin San with a blood formation.
• The nunnery collapsed under the formation's pressure, leaving Yin San battered and Gu Qing gravely injured as he tried to perish with his enemy.
• Fang Jingtian surveyed the Green Mountain Peak Masters as sect representatives arrived for the assembly, including the Water-Moon Convent Abbess.
• After the Green Mountain Sword Trial, Jin Sidao nominated Fang Jingtian for Sect Master, and Elder He nominated True Person Guangyuan.
• Fang Jingtian and True Person Guangyuan rose above the Void Realm to duel, and distant flashes of sword light appeared in the sky.

Fang Jingtian returned from the Void Realm and appeared poised to become Green Mountain Sect Master, but Zhao Layue and Zhuo Rusui openly opposed him while allies invoked Jing Jiu’s claim and the Imperial Court’s displeasure. As Fang Jingtian asserted that only Green Mountain could decide its affairs, Liu A'da’s meow transformed the sky into sunset clouds, and Zhuo Rusui’s Swallowing Boat Sword appeared amid them.

• Fang Jingtian and True Person Guangyuan returned from the Void Realm, and Fang Jingtian approached the sect master’s chair, which collapsed before he could sit.
• Zhuo Rusui admitted he had damaged the chair, and Fang Jingtian dismissed it as unimportant.
• Zhao Layue challenged Fang Jingtian’s right to lead Green Mountain without the Heaven-Bearing Sword, while Zhuo Rusui also declared his opposition.
• Zhao Layue and Zhuo Rusui rejected the earlier agreement to choose a new sect master, and Que Niang, Duke of Lu, the Fruitful Accomplishment Temple, and the Hanging Bell Sect raised objections on Jing Jiu’s behalf.
• Fang Jingtian insisted that outsiders could not decide Green Mountain’s affairs, and Liu A'da’s meow turned the scattered sunlight into sunset clouds.
• Zhuo Rusui admired the sunset as his Swallowing Boat Sword drifted into view, and Zhao Layue agreed.

As Gu Qing, Liu S sui, and their allies fought to hold off powerful attackers in Chaoge City, Jing Jiu finally woke from his century-long sleep. He learned that the battle was at the Old Plum Garden and vanished, leaving Little Lotus behind.

• Ping Yongjia sustained the Zhuxian Sword Formation as the Imperial City Grand Formation pressed down on the Old Plum Garden, while Yin Phoenix was trapped by Zen Child's mirror.
• Liu S sui confronted the Profound Yin Ancestor outside Chaoge City, and Su Ziye returned to help him withstand the ancestor's ghostly flames.
• Liu S sui and Su Ziye combined their fires against the Profound Yin Ancestor as Gu Qing struggled to hold Yin San back with the Zhuxian Sword Formation.
• Yin San broke through the formation and sent a sword shadow toward Gu Qing's brow.
• Jing Jiu woke, asked where the battle was, and vanished after the azure bird answered that it was at the Old Plum Garden.

Jing Jiu awakened after a century and fought Yin San, forcing him to flee while defeating Profound Yin Ancestor and wounding Yin Phoenix. Afterward, Jing Jiu confirmed that he had reached Heavenly Access and gave the Bone Flute to Liu S sui.

• Jing Jiu appeared in the Old Plum Garden, broke Yin San’s attack, seized the formations, and sent Gu Qing to safety.
• Jing Jiu and Yin San exchanged words through divine sense as their battle resumed; Jing Jiu wounded Yin San, who escaped in the form of a red bird.
• Jing Jiu saved Liu S sui and Su Ziye from Profound Yin Ancestor’s attack, then wounded Profound Yin Ancestor and Yin Phoenix, who fled together.
• Jing Jiu told Su Ziye not to share his suspicions with Tong Yan, then confirmed to Liu S sui that he had been asleep for a hundred years.
• Jing Jiu played the Bone Flute, whose bloodline vanished, and gave it to Liu S sui as signs of his breakthrough to Heavenly Access appeared in the sky.

As Fang Jingtian challenged Green Mountain’s succession, Jing Jiu awakened in Chaoge City and reached the heaven-connecting realm, while Nan Wang also broke through and confronted Fang Jingtian. Jing Jiu then arrived at the Jing Residence, and Zen Child decided to leave for White City to avoid him.

• Zhao Layue and Zhuo Rusui challenged Fang Jingtian on Heavenly Light Peak, but both were defeated before Yuan Qu could take his turn.
• A sword omen appeared above Green Mountain, and its disciples realized Jing Jiu had awakened in Chaoge City and entered the heaven-connecting realm.
• Nan Wang broke through to the heaven-connecting realm, arrived on Heavenly Light Peak, and asked Fang Jingtian whether he still intended to claim the Sect Master's Seat.
• Fang Jingtian returned to Past Arrival Peak, while Zhao Layue explained that Jing Jiu was himself to her, not merely a man or a sword.
• Jing Jiu entered Chaoge City with Liu S sui and went to the Jing Residence, where he thanked Zen Child for his efforts.
• Zen Child ordered the monks to pack and leave for White City because he did not want to see Jing Jiu.