Chapter Summaries

Two years after leaving Tianji City, Shi Xuan traveled west through the Western Wilderness, still searching for the turning point that would clarify his path to a high-grade Golden Core. As a great wind drove him and a caravan into a sand cave, several streaks of escaping light approached, leaving their arrival imminent.

• Shi Xuan sensed a great wind approaching and took shelter in a sand cave, where he reflected on his fruitless search over the past two years.
• An Qingshu led Old Master An’s caravan into the cave and asked Shi Xuan to share the space by his fire; Shi Xuan agreed.
• Old Master An asked Wang why he had left Divine Sword Manor, and Wang said he had come to Extreme West Town to scout for the manor.
• Wang introduced his daughter, Wang Ruotong, to Old Master An and An Qingshu as the wind began to howl outside.
• Shi Xuan sensed several streaks of escaping light heading toward the sand cave.

Shi Xuan learned that Fu Sheng and the Ma brothers were heading to the Heavenly Sword Sect Grotto-Heaven to explore the remnants of Spiritual Sword Peak. Hearing that Sword Elder had died there, Shi Xuan saw a possible path toward advancing to the Golden Core Stage and decided to investigate.

• Old Master An and Wang Ruotong’s father discussed her having become Xie Xiaoan’s formal disciple, while the cultivators around Shi Xuan listened enviously.
• The Ma brothers arrived at the sand cave and made An Xiuchuan move his caravan away from their campfire.
• Fu Sheng arrived with four Qi Induction Stage disciples, and the Ma brothers questioned him about his destination.
• Ma Hai revealed that the Heavenly Sword Sect Grotto-Heaven might contain the Spiritual Sword Dao Method and the Pure Yang Flying Sword, the Heavenly Spirit Sword.
• Shi Xuan recalled Sword Elder’s death in the grotto-heaven and resolved to gather information and prepare for a visit.
• Ma Hai noticed the Wang father and daughter react to the mention of the Heavenly Sword Sect and suggested Divine Sword Manor was also heading there.

Shi Xuan reached Extreme West Town to investigate the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Grotto-heaven World and search for clues about where Sword Elder had fallen. He settled in at the External Affairs Hall outpost and requested information on Heavenly Sword Peak, while many cultivators gathered nearby seeking the sect’s treasures and techniques.

• Fu Sheng and the Ma brothers discussed the risks of seeking a high-grade Golden Core and speculated that Divine Sword Manor wanted the Spiritual Sword Dao Method or the Heavenly Spirit Sword.
• After the sandstorm passed, the Ma brothers and Fu Sheng left the cave, and Shi Xuan set out for Extreme West Town to gather information about Sword Elder.
• Wang Ruotong and An Qingshu offered Shi Xuan a Sand Stepping Beast and a place in their caravan, but he declined and traveled alone.
• At the External Affairs Hall outpost, Shi Xuan asked Zhou Cheng to arrange a courtyard and gather available information about Heavenly Sword Peak.
• The chapter explained that the Heavenly Sword Sect’s fragile Grotto-heaven World contained scattered peaks, mountains, and spatial rifts, and that Shi Xuan’s greatest danger there came from an unknown threat beyond its formations and rifts.

Shi Xuan prepared to investigate Sword Elder’s possible resting places in the Heavenly Sword Sect’s grotto-heaven and left Extreme West Town ahead of the other factions. Divine Sword Manor learned that Shi Xuan was there and came to seek him, but he had already entered the grotto-heaven.

• Shi Xuan narrowed Sword Elder’s likely resting places to the forest behind Biro Mountain and the core of Red Maple Mountain’s Sword Discussion Hall, then asked Zhou Cheng for information about Void creatures and Heavenly Demon clans.
• Shi Xuan encountered An Xiuchuan’s caravan as it arrived in Extreme West Town, and Wang Ruotong and her companions suspected he was the renowned Shi Xuan.
• Wang Ruotong reported Shi Xuan’s identity to Li Huaiyuan, who decided Divine Sword Manor should meet with him and coordinate with the other sects over Spiritual Sword Peak.
• Li Huaiyuan and Xie Xiaoan visited the Penglai Sect residence, where Zhou Cheng told them that Shi Xuan had entered the grotto-heaven the previous day.
• Shi Xuan reached the hidden grotto-heaven entrance west of Extreme West Town and stepped through its spatial ripples.

Shi Xuan traveled through the ruined grotto-heaven toward Red Maple Mountain, where he fought and captured Heavenly Demons. After escaping a relentless pursuit by Great Yin Moon Beasts, he discovered that the Taiji Diagram could absorb their moonlight and fuse with them.

• Shi Xuan flew through the void, killed a Flying Tongue Demon, and absorbed other Heavenly Demons with the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle.
• Shi Xuan broke the Great Yin Moon Beasts' bright-moon formation, captured the beasts, and fled when more appeared and pursued him.
• Shi Xuan spent five days evading the Great Yin Moon Beasts and then concealed himself on a piece of ruined land.
• Shi Xuan released several Great Yin Moon Beasts and found that the Taiji Diagram absorbed their moonlight and fused with them.

Shi Xuan traveled to Red Maple Mountain, killed three Spirit Soul Stage Cultivators who ambushed him, and used a Forbidden Breaking Talisman to enter the sealed great hall. As he stepped inside, a boundless Sword Qi struck down at him from above.

• Shi Xuan merged Great Yin Moon Beasts into the Taiji Diagram until he discovered that its restriction also needed yang-natured and other talismanic characters.
• Che Zhao, Li Wenju, and Qi Chang killed a Spirit Soul Stage Cultivator and hid on Red Maple Mountain, hoping to ambush another traveler for treasure.
• Shi Xuan arrived at Red Maple Mountain, where Che Zhao, Li Wenju, and Qi Chang attacked him, mistaking him for an ordinary Spirit Soul Stage Cultivator.
• Shi Xuan killed Qi Chang and Che Zhao, then used the Soul Searching Technique on Li Wenju before killing him and taking their Forbidden Breaking Talisman.
• Shi Xuan combined the Forbidden Breaking Talisman with the Taiji Diagram to breach the great hall's Sword Qi formation and entered the hall.
• A boundless Sword Qi suddenly struck down at Shi Xuan from above.

Shi Xuan endured the Sword Discussion Hall’s ancient sword intent and searched its empty chambers for traces of Sword Elder. After he ignored the strange sounds moving between rooms, a pair of eyes appeared beside the side hall doorway.

• Shi Xuan resisted the Great Freedom sword intent inscribed above the hall and gained a clearer, more condensed Spirit Soul.
• Shi Xuan searched the main hall and found no traces or messages, then heard a crisp sound from the side hall.
• Shi Xuan cautiously inspected the side hall and rear hall, but found both empty as the sounds shifted between them.
• Shi Xuan stayed still when the side hall sounded repeatedly, and two blinking eyes slowly appeared beside its doorway.

Shi Xuan left the Heavenly Sword Sect hall after a mysterious monkey taunted him, then headed toward Biro Mountain. On the way, Li Huaiyuan and the Divine Sword Manor cultivators decided to ambush him for his swordsmanship and treasures, and they attacked as soon as they met.

• Shi Xuan encountered a brownish-yellow monkey in the hall, but it mocked him and vanished before he could catch it.
• Shi Xuan searched the halls again, found nothing, and flew toward Biro Mountain to seek Sword Elder’s relics.
• Li Huaiyuan led Xie Xiaoan and six Spirit Soul Stage cultivators toward Spiritual Sword Peak without waiting for their allies.
• Li Huaiyuan persuaded the group to kill Shi Xuan and seize his sword art, insights, and possessions, and Xie Xiaoan agreed.
• Shi Xuan met the Divine Sword Manor cultivators in the void, and Li Huaiyuan’s White Rainbow-like sword light struck at him before he could leave.

Shi Xuan escaped Li Huaiyuan by detonating his External Core and teleporting away, while Li Huaiyuan and his companions split up to pursue him or seek gains at Spiritual Sword Peak. Recovering near Biro Mountain, Shi Xuan discovered he had landed at its back mountain and sensed someone approaching.

• Shi Xuan used the Azure Jade Lightning Robe to withstand Li Huaiyuan's Sun-Piercing Sword, then detonated his External Core and damaged Li Huaiyuan and the other cultivators' natal swords.
• Shi Xuan escaped with the Five Fires Seven Birds Fan, while Li Huaiyuan's injuries prevented him from tracking Shi Xuan with his Spiritual Consciousness.
• Li Huaiyuan identified Shi Xuan as Xing Zhao and sent Xie Xiaoan with four cultivators to guard the grotto-heaven's exit, while he and two others continued toward Spiritual Sword Peak.
• Shi Xuan recovered from his injuries in a forest and realized the fan's teleportation had taken him to Biro Mountain's back mountain.
• Shi Xuan decided to investigate Biro Mountain before following the Luofu Sect cultivators, then sensed someone flying toward him.

Shi Xuan searched for traces of Sword Elder in the forest, found the sword mark by a lake, and learned from an old tree demon that the swordsman had vanished after striking the cliff. The tree demon offered him fruit as Shi Xuan continued his search, wary of its intentions and of the powerful heavenly demons nearby.

• Shi Xuan followed the trail to the lake and destroyed the Shadowless Filth Demons hidden beneath its waters, but found no clues in the lake or around Sword Elder's mark.
• Shi Xuan spotted a towering tree and discovered that it housed an old tree demon with Spirit Soul Stage cultivation.
• Shi Xuan asked the tree demon about Sword Elder, and it recalled seeing him strike the cliff before suddenly disappearing.
• The tree demon warned Shi Xuan about four Golden Core-strength heavenly demon tribes and said they could appear at any time.
• The tree demon offered Shi Xuan three life-prolonging fruits, but Shi Xuan remained suspicious and did not eat them.

Shi Xuan exposed and destroyed a Ten Thousand Year Tree Demon, but failed to persuade the elusive monkey to follow him. After finding no trace of Sword Elder, he discovered that the cliff’s sword mark was protected by a strange restriction and struggled to reproduce it; the chapter left him searching for another way through.

• The monkey bit into the old tree demon’s offered fruit, revealed it was poisonous, and Shi Xuan struck down the demon when it attacked.
• Shi Xuan battled the tree demon’s true body with his sword and magical treasures, then destroyed it with nine bolts of heavenly thunder.
• Shi Xuan found three apparently genuine Ten-Thousand-Year Tree Demon Fruits inside a root and gave one to the monkey, which ate it and ran away.
• After several days of searching for Sword Elder and avoiding celestial demons, Shi Xuan returned to the cliff and tried to recreate the sword mark.
• Shi Xuan’s attacks, including Sword Qi Thunder Sound and the Taiji Diagram, failed to overcome the wall’s restriction, and he realized his destroyed External Core left him without enough power.
• Shi Xuan stared at the wall until his eyes suddenly lit up.

Shi Xuan passed the sword-intent test at the hidden cave entrance and discovered the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Sword Refining Path, which Sword Elder had entered seeking a breakthrough. Outside Spiritual Sword Peak, Li Huaiyuan revealed Shi Xuan’s identity to Ji Wujiu and Zhu Wangyan and enlisted them in a plot to kill him.

• Shi Xuan used the Great Freedom sword intent he had sensed at Red Maple Mountain to pass the stone wall’s swordsmanship test and reveal an underground cave.
• Shi Xuan entered the cave under the protection of several treasures and followed its steps to a bronze door labeled Heavenly Sword Sect Sword Refining Path.
• Li Huaiyuan told Ji Wujiu and Zhu Wangyan that Xing Zhao was Shi Xuan’s External Core, and the two agreed to cooperate with him against Shi Xuan.
• Li Huaiyuan explained that Shi Xuan had lost his External Core and that his people were waiting at the exit with talismans to trap him.
• Two swarms of heavenly demons emerged from a spatial passage in the forest near Biro Mountain.
• Shi Xuan realized Sword Elder had entered the Sword Refining Path to seek a Golden Core breakthrough, then opened the bronze door and went inside.

Shi Xuan passed the Myriad Sword Illusion Formation and entered a passage that confronted him with memories, regrets, and worries from his life. After reflecting on what he could and could not do for those close to him, he continued onward as illusions began praising his talent and achievements.

• Shi Xuan fought through increasingly powerful sword-light trials, using the Taiji Diagram and Other Shore Golden Bridge to slip through the final barrage of ten thousand swords and reach the bronze door.
• At Spiritual Sword Peak, Li Huaiyuan urged the Golden Core Grandmasters to use their remaining trump cards, and they finally agreed to make one last attempt against the restrictions.
• Shi Xuan entered a passage that recreated Penglai Sect and confronted him with past scorn, accusations from Old Daoist Xu and Meng Yuchang, and the worries of Zhou Dielan, Yu Ruoshui, Ming Qingyue, Mo Yuan, and True Person Jiang.
• Shi Xuan recognized the passage as a mirror of his anxieties and concluded that he could help his friends and master only by advancing his own cultivation, which eased his burden.
• As Shi Xuan walked on, illusions of younger disciples and Rogue Cultivators praised his swordsmanship, strength, and prospects for forming a high-grade Golden Core.

Shi Xuan confronted his wavering purpose in the Sword Refining Path and realized that his true path was the Supreme Yin-Yang Dao, triggering his breakthrough toward the Golden Core. As the other cultivators abandoned their attempt to break the restriction at Spiritual Sword Peak, a Wind Rises, Clouds Surge omen announced that someone had achieved the Golden Core within the Grotto-Heaven.

• Shi Xuan endured the Mind Intent Passage's praise and failed the sword trial because his Sword Intent was impure, then emerged in a hidden mountain valley.
• Shi Xuan found Sword Elder's skeleton and read his final words, which described how acclaim and obsession with swordsmanship had distracted him from the Golden Core Great Dao.
• Shi Xuan connected Sword Elder's regrets with his master's counsel about choosing and relinquishing, recognized his own attachment to swordsmanship, and reaffirmed the Supreme Yin-Yang Dao as his path.
• Shi Xuan's Spirit Soul and True Qi surged as yin and yang drew together, while the Golden Core Grandmasters gave up trying to break the restriction at Spiritual Sword Peak.
• Qiao Mubai recognized the Wind Rises, Clouds Surge omen, and Li Huaiyuan suspected that Shi Xuan had achieved the Golden Core.

Shi Xuan achieved a high-grade Golden Core, creating unprecedented phenomena and gaining powerful new abilities. As Heavenly Demons converged on his location, he used his newly advanced Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle to attack them.

• Ji Wujiu and Zhu Wangyan realized Shi Xuan might be the one achieving a Golden Core and moved farther away from Li Huaiyuan, while Qiao Mubai and Shen Xianyun recognized the likely high-grade breakthrough.
• Shi Xuan unified his Three Souls and Seven Souls, formed a Golden Core, and awakened four Dao arts as his Taiji Diagram and Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle advanced to perfected Eighth Heaven.
• Five-Colored Radiance formed a five-colored flying sword inside Shi Xuan’s Spirit Soul, bearing the talismanic character for “Annihilate.”
• Shi Xuan tested his newly embodied Spirit Soul, identified Void Illusion and Two Forms Evil Slaying Sword Qi, and sensed Heavenly Demons approaching before he could fully examine the new sword.
• Shi Xuan’s Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle grew to the size of a giant peak and drew the weaker Great Yin Moon Beasts and Great Sun King Beasts into its black-and-white Qi, while its suction force destabilized their two Golden Core leaders.

Shi Xuan used his newly advanced Golden Core strength to subdue two celestial demons, then hurried toward the grotto-heaven’s exit to confront Li Huaiyuan. He found Li Huaiyuan’s Spirit Soul Stage ambushers instead and killed three of them with the Five-Colored flying sword.

• Shi Xuan used the Taiji Diagram and Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle to capture two Golden Core-level celestial demons and strengthen his Spirit Artifacts.
• Qiao Mubai and the others witnessed Shi Xuan’s power, while Li Huaiyuan fled toward the exit after learning that Shi Xuan had achieved a high-grade Golden Core.
• Li Huaiyuan’s two abandoned subordinates revealed that he had previously attacked Shi Xuan, prompting Qiao Mubai and Shen Xianyun to pursue him.
• Shi Xuan raced toward the exit, wondering why Li Huaiyuan had targeted him and planning to kill him while his natal flying sword was unusable.
• Shi Xuan spotted several Spirit Soul Stage Cultivators lying in ambush near the exit and attacked them with the Five-Colored flying sword and Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle.
• Shi Xuan’s Five-Colored sword light pierced three Great White Geng Metal Shields and cut down three of the ambushers.

Shi Xuan killed Li Huaiyuan with the Five-Colored Flying Sword and discovered that Li Huaiyuan possessed a perilous secret method for achieving Primordial Spirit. After learning more about his own sword from the Mountain River Pearl’s Treasure Record, Shi Xuan realized it was tied to a supreme cultivation technique he had not expected.

• Shi Xuan searched Xie Xiaoan’s soul, learned Li Huaiyuan was heading toward Spiritual Sword Peak, and killed Xie Xiaoan after defeating the other Spirit Soul Stage cultivator.
• Shi Xuan trapped Li Huaiyuan in the Void Illusion and attacked him with the Five-Colored Sword Light, overcoming his protective Daoist Arts.
• A white lotus grew from Li Huaiyuan’s severed neck, but Shi Xuan used the Taiji Diagram to halt its transformation and destroyed Li Huaiyuan.
• Shi Xuan searched Li Huaiyuan’s storage bag and found a secret method for achieving Primordial Spirit through merging with a Dharma Treasure’s artifact spirit; he sealed the jade slip away.
• Shi Xuan consulted the Mountain River Pearl’s Treasure Record and discovered that the Five-Colored Flying Sword was unlike what he had imagined and might be the source of the Daoist Art Splitting Method.

Shi Xuan learned how the Treasure Record could lead him toward the Creation Realm, despite the danger posed by Qingyunzi’s unnamed enemy. He resolved to pursue the Yin-Yang Dao Seed and examined the Five Elements Immortal Slaying Sword just as Qiao and Shen arrived.

• Shi Xuan read Qingyunzi’s warning that an opposing Dao Ancestor had killed him and could detect Shi Xuan if he learned the Dao Ancestor’s name before achieving Dao Integration.
• Shi Xuan learned that the Treasure Record offered a path to the Yin-Yang Dao Seed through a five-step sword method, though its final steps had been lost in another Great Thousand World.
• Shi Xuan resolved to pursue the Yin-Yang Dao Seed and eventually search for the lost steps, while planning carefully around Qingyunzi’s enemy.
• Shi Xuan examined the Five Elements Immortal Slaying Sword and learned that it could sever fortune as well as flesh and Spirit Souls.
• Qiao and Shen arrived, and Shi Xuan thanked them for seeking justice on his behalf.

Shi Xuan defeated Li Huaiyuan, then followed the monkey to a hidden hall and obtained the damaged Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasure swords Purple Firmament and Azure Star. After the cave-heaven collapsed and three Pure Yang Magic Treasure swords escaped, Shi Xuan headed toward Tianji City, burdened by the knowledge that a Golden Immortal Dao Ancestor awaited him.

• Shi Xuan thanked Qiao Mubai and Shen Xianyun for delaying Li Huaiyuan, while Qiao Mubai and Shen Xianyun departed without asking about Shi Xuan's hidden abilities.
• Shi Xuan reviewed the powers he gained with his Golden Core and decided to find the monkey before returning to his sect to cultivate.
• The monkey led Shi Xuan through a hall's restrictions to the damaged Purple Firmament and Azure Star swords, which Shi Xuan lifted by hand and stored in his Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle.
• Shi Xuan escaped as the cave-heaven began to collapse, and the other cultivators fled after him.
• Three Pure Yang Magic Treasure swords flew from the collapsed cave-heaven, and the cultivators pursued them in different directions.
• Shi Xuan abandoned the pursuit and flew toward Tianji City, reflecting on the Golden Immortal Dao Ancestor waiting ahead while continuing on his cultivation path.

Cultivators in Tianji City traded rumors about the Pure Yang Flying Swords and Shi Xuan’s rise to seventh on the Tianji Ranking, speculating that he had obtained a Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasure. Shi Xuan returned to the Penglai Sect, rewarded Ao Gu, and learned that True Lord Xu wished to see him.

• Bai Xiaosheng told Ouyang and the other cultivators that Qiao Mubai had received the Great Freedom Flying Sword and a Penglai True Person had escaped with the Heavenly Spirit Sword.
• Bai Xiaosheng reported that Shi Xuan had risen to seventh on the Tianji Ranking, and the group began speculating that he had found a Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasure.
• Shi Xuan returned to the Penglai Sect, where disciples congratulated him on achieving high-grade Golden Core.
• Shi Xuan gave Ao Gu a Blood and Flesh Regeneration Pill and asked him to keep watch over the monkey while he went to see Sect Master Zhang Zhengyan.
• Zhang Zhengyan congratulated Shi Xuan on his advancement and ranking, then told him that True Lord Xu wished to see him.