Chapter Summaries

Wei Gu entered the Orchid Grass Small World to fight the Tianxin Pavilion good man and attacked with a ruthless flying-sword strike. The good man trapped the sword beneath his arm, then charged Wei Gu as the two prepared to clash at close range.

• Wei Gu took the first bout, confident that defeating the good man would strengthen his chances of becoming a Constellation True Disciple.
• Two visitors from Weiliao Sect watched through Strange Stone Orchids, and the senior True Disciple offered to introduce Sister Fangfei to prominent Daoist cultivators.
• Wei Gu appeared in the Small World and immediately sent his flying sword slashing toward the good man.
• The good man let the sword strike him, then pinned it beneath his arm and endured its flashing sword Gang for several breaths.
• Wei Gu rushed in to reclaim his sword and drew a longsword as the good man released the trapped weapon and flew toward him.

Senior Brother Hao defeated Wei Gu by catching his flying sword with his magnetic Dao body and striking him with thunder, then explained his tactics. The Tianxin Pavilion disciples recognized his strength, while Daoist Qiu Shi used the fight to admonish two young Daoists for staying in the Sea of Flowers.

• Senior Brother Hao caught Wei Gu’s metal flying sword with his magnetic Dao body, used thunder to numb him, and defeated him in a single exchange.
• Senior Brother Hao explained that his attempts to seize Wei Gu’s swords had been feints, and Wei Gu accepted the loss while keeping the thunder technique secret from the others.
• Huai Liangyou and the other True Disciples identified Senior Brother Hao as an ancient martial arts body cultivator and considered how to avoid fighting him at close range.
• Wei Gu returned without showing disappointment and privately anticipated the trouble Senior Brother Hao’s concealed thunder technique would cause the Magic Cultivators.
• Daoist Qiu Shi praised Senior Brother Hao’s combat ability, then urged two young Daoists to leave the Sea of Flowers and gain experience outside the pavilion.

Yan Baiyi used the Great Banner Sect’s Eight Trigrams Flags to trap and attack Good Person, who endured the techniques while unable to use his sword-based abilities. When Yan Baiyi summoned a tornado, Good Person’s stone figures drove the wind out of control and swept Yan Baiyi into it, leaving him vulnerable to a touch on the shoulder.

• Yan Baiyi entered the Small World and displayed the eight banners of the Great Banner Sect.
• Yan Baiyi used the Qian banner to trap Good Person between pillars, but Good Person withstood the attack using his physical cultivation.
• Yan Baiyi used the Kun, Zhen, and Gen banners to strike Good Person, who endured the attacks while searching for an opportunity.
• Yan Baiyi summoned a tornado with the Xun banner, and Good Person threw out stone figures that drove the wind into chaos.
• The tornado swept Yan Baiyi off his feet, and Good Person tapped him on the shoulder.

Hao Ren defeated Yan Baiyi and then faced Tan Xiao, whose three Chu Sect techniques failed to overcome Hao Ren’s familiarity with them. Their contest ended in a close-combat wrestling match, with Hao Ren pinning Tan Xiao and demanding his surrender.

• Huai Liangyou, Lou Yue, and Dai Xun suspected Hao Ren’s stone figures resembled those from Xunfeng Valley and decided to tell Han Tiangang privately.
• Tan Xiao entered the Small World eager to fight after Daoist Qiushi predicted Hao Ren’s next victory would give Tianxin Pavilion a strong chance of winning.
• Tan Xiao used Taiji Void-Born Circle, but Hao Ren dismantled every ring and kept the enclosing cocoon from closing.
• Tan Xiao tried Cloud Sea Competing in Frosty Heavens, but Hao Ren again countered the technique with ease.
• Tan Xiao used One Qi Heaven and Earth Bag to force a contest of law power, and the two wrestled at close range.
• Hao Ren pinned Tan Xiao beneath him and asked whether he submitted.

After a hard-won victory, Dong Fangfei recognized the good man as Hou Niao and reconsidered him as a valuable ally. Monk Tiding’s quiet defeat inspired the remaining True Disciples to stop hesitating, and Dai Xun, Cheng Kun, and Lou Yue volunteered to challenge next.

• Dong Fangfei recognized a crescent-shaped mole on the good man and suspected he was Hou Niao, then reconsidered his value as a potential backer.
• Daoist Qiushi warned his disciples that an arbiter should not enter the contest, while the other challengers paused to discuss their order.
• Monk Tiding entered the Orchid Grass Small World, lost to the Tianxin Pavilion cultivator, and silently returned to meditate.
• Monk Tiding’s persistence encouraged the remaining True Disciples to face the challenge without fixating on defeat.
• Dai Xun volunteered first, Cheng Kun followed, and Lou Yue said he would go after them, while Gu Daozi told Huai Liangyou to hold the line.

Hou Niao faced Dai Xun, whose Dragon Mountain Beast-Roaming Diagram and furnace-forging star sand trapped him in a battle of attrition. As the star sand overwhelmed his defenses, Hou Niao released five rays of profound light.

• The True Disciples took turns challenging Hou Niao, and Dai Xun entered the small world for his turn.
• Dai Xun summoned an azure ape from the Dragon Mountain Beast-Roaming Diagram, and Hou Niao struck it repeatedly, causing it to grow stronger by absorbing gang qi.
• Dai Xun unleashed furnace-forging star sand that eroded Hou Niao’s protective profound gang and hemmed him in.
• Hou Niao realized ordinary attacks could not stop the star sand and sent five rays of profound light sweeping out behind him.

Hou Niao and Dai Xun fought an exhausting battle as Dai Xun attacked with furnace-forging star sand and beasts from the Dragon Mountain Beast-Roaming Diagram. After Hou Niao swept away the sand twice in succession, he urged Dai Xun to stop, leaving Dai Xun uncertain whether Hou Niao still had strength to spare.

• Hou Niao used his profound light to defeat Dai Xun’s Azure Ape, while Dai Xun attacked with star sand and three charging beasts.
• Hou Niao threw out the Small Pagoda, Small Shield, and Battle Garment to delay the star sand, then swept it away with his profound light.
• Dai Xun released two more beasts and continued the assault, while Hou Niao fought them off and sacrificed more unrefined treasures to buy time.
• Dai Xun lost three beasts to prolonged fighting and had forty percent of his star sand swept away.
• Hou Niao stopped throwing out treasures and swept away two more volleys of star sand in succession.
• Hou Niao warned Dai Xun that continuing would ruin his star sand and beasts, and Dai Xun hesitated over whether to withdraw or keep fighting.

Dai Xun stopped gambling after losing half his star sand and revealed that Good Man wielded the Five Elements Mystic Light. Cheng Kun and Lou Yue were defeated, and Gu Daozi and Huai Liangyou chose to concede while seeking Good Man’s identity.

• Dai Xun admitted defeat, explaining that he could not risk losing the rest of his star sand and beasts, and told Cheng Kun that Good Man’s Five Elements Mystic Light was strongest in water and earth.
• Cheng Kun entered the fight wary of the mystic light and was defeated in less than a quarter of an hour.
• Lou Yue fought Good Man next but was also defeated as the Five Elements Mystic Light blunted his magic.
• Gu Daozi and Huai Liangyou decided their group should concede and investigate who Good Man really was.
• Wei Gu mocked the Daoist Sect for turning the Tianxin Pavilion incident into a farce, while Yan Baiyi and Tan Xiao listened awkwardly.

Hou Niao fought Yuan Xizhi while trying to understand why the pirate chief remained composed, then discovered that the flood dragon qi had traced a Black Star illusion formation around them. As the illusion closed in, Hou Niao plunged his consciousness into the Purple Mansion Vortex and suddenly opened his eyes, facing Yuan Xizhi with a flash of sword light.

• Hou Niao evaded Yuan Xizhi’s attacks and shattered his pagoda, Colored Ring, and Cloud Shield as the battle continued.
• Yuan Xizhi used the pursuing flood dragon qi to secretly trace a Black Star formation around the battlefield.
• Hou Niao sensed something was wrong, scattered the flood dragon qi, and realized the Black Star formation was closing around him.
• Yuan Xizhi summoned a Mirage Beast, which activated the illusion and pulled Hou Niao toward the Black Star’s center.
• Hou Niao plunged his consciousness into the Purple Mansion Vortex, then opened his eyes and struck at Yuan Xizhi with a flash of sword light.

Hou Niao prepared to leave Year-End City for the Hundred Thousand Mountains, while Bai Qingqian chose to stay and open a flower shop. As he headed north with Daoist Sect True Disciples in pursuit, he discovered that one woman was following him into dangerous heights.

• Hou Niao told Bai Qingqian they needed to leave, but she refused to join him and decided to settle in Year-End City.
• Hou Niao agreed to travel alone toward the Hundred Thousand Mountains and left with Fuyao before dawn.
• Daoist Sect True Disciples chased Hou Niao as he flew north, but he climbed above their safe limits and shook off nearly all of them.
• Hou Niao noticed one pursuer still following him at extreme altitude and changed direction before dropping toward her.
• Hou Niao saw a woman struggling to fly, unable to call for help but still refusing to give up the pursuit.

Hou Niao rescued Dong Fangfei from a staged fall, then agreed to hide with her in Kangba Left Banner while the Daoist Sect searched the Northern Borderlands. She brought him to a camp where the herders knew her as Lady Suji, and he wondered who held power there.

• Hou Niao caught Dong Fangfei as she pretended to lose control in the wind, then realized she had tricked him into helping her.
• Dong Fangfei urged Hou Niao to lie low for three months, and he agreed before she took him away on a flying raft.
• Dong Fangfei brought Hou Niao to Kangba Left Banner, where she said they could stay among her local friends.
• Dong Fangfei changed into grassland clothing and greeted the herders, who welcomed her as Lady Suji.
• Hou Niao followed Dong Fangfei to a large felt tent and joked that he would kill any king who tried to compete with him for her.

Hou Niao stayed at Dong Fangfei’s camp and reflected on his recent cultivation gains, especially how the Five Elements Mystic Light benefited from treasures from the Outer Cosmos. He then welcomed Dong Fangfei into his tent in disguise and seized her as she tried to flee.

• Hou Niao explored the camp and realized that many of its children were studying and that some adults from the grasslands behaved like people from the central plains.
• Hou Niao assessed his strength against several Constellation True Disciples and concluded that he was not confident he could defeat them.
• Hou Niao reasoned that treasures from the Outer Cosmos could greatly strengthen his Five Elements Mystic Light and decided to focus first on experiencing the Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Dong Fangfei entered Hou Niao’s tent dressed in a traditional robe, and he startled her with a donkey-faced disguise.
• Hou Niao caught Dong Fangfei as she tried to run and threw her onto the fur-covered couch.

Hou Niao learned that Immortal Maiden Dong wanted his help mediating with the grasslands’ Golden Bloodline Shi Clan, whose swordsmen were pressuring her to leave Kangba Left Banner. He agreed to wait for them to return, while discovering the extent of Dong Fangfei’s decades of work among the herders.

• Immortal Maiden Dong told Hou Niao she believed he could break the Heaven and Earth Shackles and asked him to remember her if he rose to power.
• Dong Fangfei explained that Golden Bloodline Shi Clan swordsmen had repeatedly demanded she leave Kangba Left Banner, though she had avoided teaching cultivation or otherwise challenging their authority.
• Hou Niao agreed to mediate with the Shi Clan swordsmen when they appeared again.
• Hou Niao spent time around the camp and saw that Dong Fangfei supported the herders through education, trade, and disaster relief.

Hou Niao confronted the Golden Bloodline swordsmen who objected to Immortal Maiden Dong teaching in Kangba Left Banner, and defeated Shi Ye in a fair sword fight. He challenged Shi Bu’s reasons for opposing her lessons and declared that true swordsmanship should fear no challenge.

• Shi Bu questioned Hou Niao’s presence, and Hou Niao explained that he had come by chance but would not stand aside.
• Shi Bu insisted that the grassland rules required Hou Niao to defeat him, then sent Shi Ye to fight in his place.
• Hou Niao parried Shi Ye’s powerful broadsword and struck his Shanzhong acupoint with his sword hilt, leaving him unable to rise.
• Shi Bu stopped the other young swordsman from attacking and asked where Hou Niao’s sword came from.
• Hou Niao identified Quanzhen as his sword’s source and denied having any purpose in Kangba Left Banner.
• Hou Niao argued that Immortal Maiden Dong’s lessons in reading and pictures posed no threat to the Golden Bloodline’s swordsmanship, and said true swordsmanship should fear no challenge.

Hou Niao befriended Shi Bu after defeating him in a sword spar, easing the Golden Bloodline’s pressure on Immortal Maiden Dong. Their discussion turned to swordsmanship and the grassland tribes’ search for a way to strengthen their tradition without adopting the Daoist Sect’s methods.

• Hou Niao defeated Shi Bu in a sword spar, then used his acquaintance with Shi Le to establish a friendship with the Golden Bloodline men.
• Shi Bu sent two juniors to fetch Shi Le, while Immortal Maiden Dong left the men to talk.
• Hou Niao asked Shi Bu about the Golden Bloodline’s efforts to purge outside influences from the grasslands, and promised to persuade Immortal Maiden Dong to scale back her activities.
• Shi Bu agreed to tolerate Immortal Maiden Dong’s work as long as she stayed within bounds.
• Hou Niao explained that Quanzhen could change its swordsmanship if new methods proved successful, warning Shi Bu not to assume the Golden Bloodline could rest on its traditions.
• Shi Bu said the Golden Bloodline had sent its best practitioners to study other traditions, but had struggled to find a path that fit without adopting too much from the Daoist Sect.

Hou Niao discussed the grassland golden bloodline’s struggle to choose a path for its cultivation legacy, then tested his sword against its gathered swordsmen. He left them with a warning that Shanmen Quanzhen would produce more Sword Cultivators like him.

• Shi Le welcomed Hou Niao and explained that grassland swordsmen had come to witness his abilities.
• Shi Le and Shi Bu described the golden bloodline’s lack of an Infant Transformation cultivator and its debate over how to preserve its legacy.
• Hou Niao advised the brothers to adopt a mature cultivation system first, while Shi Le explained their concerns about Daoist sects and body cultivation.
• Grassland swordsmen gathered outside Kangba Left Banner and challenged Hou Niao, but he defeated dozens of them with the Body Sword Technique.
• Hou Niao told the swordsmen that more Sword Cultivators like him would appear in Shanmen Quanzhen.

Hou Niao left Kangba Left Banner after teaching the grassland swordsmen, then traveled toward the Winged People Tribe. There, he learned how the Earth Spirit Pearl’s use had cost the Winged People holy maiden her life and changed the paths of three cultivators.

• Hou Niao declined Shi Le’s invitation to visit the Golden Khan Court, and they parted as friends.
• Hou Niao refused Immortal Maiden Dong’s offer to accompany him, and she left after inviting him to contact her in the Southeast.
• Hou Niao flew toward the Yaoguang Mountains, reflecting that his travels had revealed a guiding direction.
• Hou Niao reached the Winged People Tribe and recalled how the holy maiden had embedded the Earth Spirit Pearl in her forehead to transform the land.
• The holy maiden died after the Earth Spirit Pearl’s power was put to use, and Luo Yewang later told Hou Niao the full story.
• Second Brother Luo, Daoist Ying, and Monk Jia Lan changed their lives after the escort mission, while the tribe buried the pearl with the holy maiden and barred outside cultivators.

Hou Niao secretly joined cultivators beneath the Winged People’s land to study the Earth Spirit Pearl, while the chapter shifted to a Winged hunter returning home to his mother, who still grieved for her daughter and awaited a sign of her freedom.

• Hou Niao entered the soil and sensed the Earth Spirit Pearl, finding over a hundred cultivators studying its earth element power.
• Hou Niao stopped at the one-li ring and merged his yellow profound light with the pearl’s fluctuations to seek insight.
• Winged hunters returned to their village with game during the harvest season.
• Konger came home after half a month away, and his mother welcomed him and urged him to eat.
• Konger’s mother remembered her second child’s final wish and continued waiting for a kingfisher to return as a sign that her daughter had gained freedom.

Xingkong and his mother rallied the tribe to oppose the Wing Court’s plan to open the Saintess’s coffin and take the Earth Spirit Pearl. Inside the Ancestral Temple, the Northern Heaven Gate’s Venerable Master prepared to deceive the gathered people so the pearl could be replaced without their noticing.

• Xingkong learned that the Wing Court’s visitors had persuaded the tribe to open the Saintess’s coffin and rushed to defend it.
• Xingkong’s mother sent Shanzi, Dazhuang, and Xiaohu to gather hunters, farmers, and women, then set off for the Ancestral Temple with her son.
• Winged People from across the valley gathered at the Ancestral Temple to protest the removal of the Earth Spirit Pearl.
• Kuji told the black-robed Wing Court envoy that no Winged person would willingly accept the plan, while acknowledging the pressure that had forced the tribe’s leaders to consent.
• A Venerable Master from the Northern Heaven Gate proposed using a treasure to fool the crowd and replace the Earth Spirit Pearl with another treasure.

Kuji persuaded the Winged People that the Northern Heaven Gate cultivators would only examine the Earth Spirit Pearl, using a projected image to ease their suspicions. Inside the ancestral temple, Huanghou and Baidou prepared to open Xinghuan’s coffin, but the tribe’s reverence for her had created a protective barrier around it.

• Kuji announced that the Earth Spirit Pearl would remain with Xinghuan and that the cultivators only intended to examine it.
• Kuji projected an image of the ancestral temple to reassure the tribe, but Xingkong demanded that a few representatives be allowed inside to watch.
• Kuji agreed to let eight people enter, and the Winged People grew curious about the coffin’s opening.
• Huanghou and Baidou revealed that they had come to collect the Earth Spirit Pearl and had repeatedly failed to open Xinghuan’s coffin.
• Huanghou and Baidou realized that the tribe’s shared reverence for Xinghuan protected the coffin, which could not be opened without everyone’s consent.