Chapter Summaries

Song Yan continued refining Thoughtless Pills, celebrated Xiao Ju’s breakthrough, and traveled with Wang Ke and their companions to Northern Mountain City for the Go Dao Tournament. At Four-Palace Chess Valley, Song Yan unexpectedly reunited with Rong Xiaofeng.

• Song Yan refined Thoughtless Pills over the next month, making seven pills across four attempts, while Xiao Ju advanced to the fourth layer of Qi Refining.
• Song Yan considered passing the Sword-Planting Technique to Xiao Ju so she could preserve the Sword Sect’s legacy.
• Song Yan, Wang Ke, Xiao Ju, Liang Feng, and Hu Qing traveled by rented Red Dust Chariot to Northern Mountain City without encountering an ambush.
• Zhou Ming and Tian Mei checked Wang Ke’s tournament credential and Liang Feng and Hu Qing’s spectator credentials, then arranged for them to stay at Shanyang Villa or visit Four-Palace Chess Valley.
• Song Yan toured Four-Palace Chess Valley with Wang Ke and the others, where he recognized Rong Xiaofeng and greeted him.

Song Yan reunited with Wu Huaguo and Rong Xiaofeng at Beiya Mountain, where he learned that the Wu Clan had grown stronger and that Wang Ke was competing for an ancient Go record. Wu Huaguo and Rong Xiaofeng privately told Song Yan they suspected Master Yuan Zhen had come to the area for a hidden purpose after their secret method exposed lies in his account.

• Song Yan declined Rong Xiaofeng's invitation to the Wu Clan at first, and Wang Ke gave him the second Truefall Vine before staying near the tournament.
• Song Yan visited Wu Huaguo and learned that the Wu Clan had prospered through the Artless Fragment and that the tournament's prize was an ancient golden Go record.
• Wu Huaguo introduced Master Yuan Zhen, a monk from the Pure Karma Chan Monastery who was competing in the tournament and had seen Song Yan at Four-Palace Chess Valley.
• Wu Huaguo and Rong Xiaofeng privately told Song Yan that Yuan Zhen had lied about his love of Go and his aimless travels, though his origins and monastery were truthful.

Yuan Zhen plotted to seize the Divine Ability Sarira and attacked Wang Ke during the Go Dao Tournament finals after losing their match. Song Yan intervened, and Yuan Zhen’s identity and next move remained unresolved as he emerged from the fog behind Wang Ke.

• Yuan Zhen told a shadowy ally that he planned to capture the Wu Clan’s head and take the Divine Ability Sarira, while treating Wang Ke as a target tied to Ghost Valley.
• Song Yan questioned Wang Ke about Yuan Zhen and the Central Region, then prepared his four flying swords in case Yuan Zhen threatened Wang Ke.
• At the tournament, Wang Ke won his first two games, while the mysterious Yuan Yi forfeited and Yuan Zhen advanced to the deciding match.
• During Wang Ke and Yuan Zhen’s game, Song Yan saw the board transform in his eyes, and Wang Ke’s black dragon survived Yuan Zhen’s encirclement.
• Yuan Zhen raised a fog formation and attacked Wang Ke with a golden Buddhist bead, then used demonic energy to corrode Wang Ke’s protective restriction.
• Song Yan emerged from the fog behind Wang Ke and interrupted Yuan Zhen’s attack.

Song Yan tracked Yuan Zhen from the valley to a mountain summit, where he discovered Yuan Zhen’s true body, a powerful Demonic Path avatar, and the imprisoned Wu Huaguo. As Yuan Zhen attacked, Song Yan’s White Bone Dharma Body overwhelmed the avatar’s demonic seal, and Song Yan prepared a Moonfall strike against Yuan Zhen.

• Song Yan fought Yuan Zhen in the mist, but Yuan Zhen vanished after declaring his business concluded, while the valley’s mist dispersed.
• Song Yan followed traces of Spiritual Power to a summit, where he found two Yuan Zhens and Wu Huaguo trapped in a restriction.
• Yuan Zhen sent his Demonic Path avatar against Song Yan, and Song Yan countered with his Moon Ring Sword Formation and flying swords.
• Yuan Zhen defended himself with prayer beads and an alms bowl as his avatar attacked Song Yan with a demonic seal.
• Song Yan’s White Bone Dharma Body shattered the seal and absorbed the Demonic Flames, startling Yuan Zhen and Wu Huaguo.
• Song Yan gathered Sword Qi into the Crying Moon Flying Sword and invoked Moonfall against Yuan Zhen.

Song Yan killed Yuan Zhen after unleashing his sword formation and White Bone Dharma Body, then learned more about foundation establishment from Yuan Zhen’s spoils. As Song Yan prepared to leave for the Chu Capital with Wang Ke, Wang Ke’s golden game record made Song Yan stop when he recognized its resemblance to feng shui geomancy.

• Song Yan’s Sword Formation shattered Yuan Zhen’s defenses, while the White Bone Dharma Body battered and impaled Yuan Zhen’s demonic clone.
• Yuan Zhen’s clone briefly restrained Song Yan, but the Dharma Body destroyed it; Song Yan then killed Yuan Zhen with a torrent of Sword Qi.
• The demonic clone’s death freed Wu Huaguo, who resolved to win Song Yan over for the Wu Clan.
• At Shanyang Villa, Song Yan studied Yuan Zhen’s book on Dao-Pattern Foundation Establishment while Wang Ke examined the golden game record; the Go Dao Tournament’s championship had gone to Wang Ke.
• Song Yan and Wang Ke agreed to leave for the Chu Capital the next day, and Song Yan set out to visit the Wu Clan before departing.
• Wang Ke said the Five-Star Pulse Seizing Orthodox and Reversed Diagram looked like feng shui geomancy, making Song Yan stop in recognition.

Song Yan accepted a golden manual page from Wang Ke and hosted Wu Huaguo and Rong Xiaofeng, who thanked him for saving Wu Huaguo. While sorting through Yuan Zhen’s belongings, he discovered a Dharma-Transmission Wooden Figure that revealed a mysterious inheritance but expelled his Divine Sense before he could study it.

• Wang Ke gave Song Yan the golden page called the Five-Star Pulse Seizing Orthodox and Reversed Diagram, and Song Yan left with it.
• Song Yan found Wu Huaguo and Rong Xiaofeng visiting, accepted their gifts, and agreed to visit them when he passed Beiya Mountain.
• Song Yan examined Yuan Zhen’s wooden fish, kept a Heart-Guarding Mirror and a white Flying Sword for Xiao Ju, and saved two Demon Beast Cores for Xiao He.
• Song Yan used his Divine Sense on the faceless wooden figure and saw a monk, six streaks of sword light, and a scripture taking shape.
• Song Yan’s Spiritual Power and Sword Qi surged out of control, and the wooden figure expelled his Divine Sense before he could comprehend the inheritance.
• Song Yan concluded that the wooden figure was a Dharma-Transmission Object and guessed that he needed to reach Foundation Establishment before he could study its secret method.

Song Yan examined Yuan Zhen’s belongings, repaired his damaged Dharma Body, and then set out for Chu Capital with Xiao Ju, Snake Treasure, and Wang Ke. On the journey, Xiao He recognized mountains in the mysterious Go position, and the group approached the bustling capital.

• Song Yan read Yuan Zhen’s Yin-Yang Zen Body scripture and learned that Yuan Zhen had sensed a fragment of a Mind-Reading Divine Ability Sarira on Wu Huaguo.
• Song Yan summoned his Dharma Body, assessed its Demonic Qi refinement, and spent his Sword Qi reshaping its missing left arm, then collapsed from exhaustion.
• After sleeping through their planned departure, Song Yan woke on the third day and left Beiya Mountain City with Xiao Ju, Snake Treasure, and Wang Ke aboard the Red Dust Chariot.
• Song Yan studied the golden Go manual while Wang Ke worked on a Go position, and Xiao He pointed out shapes she recognized as Little Solitary Mountain and Green Mountain.
• The Red Dust Chariot passed other flying cultivators and vessels as Song Yan announced they were nearing Chu Capital, whose vast city walls came into view.

Song Yan received the Truefall Vine from Wang Ke and traveled with Xiao Han and Xiao He to Immortal-Descending Pass. There, they heard a storyteller recount how a mysterious straw-cloaked old man confronted a fourth-tier flood dragon, leaving the outcome for the next installment.

• Wang Ke gave Song Yan the Truefall Vine and parted ways with him at Boyang Mountain, then headed to a hidden teleportation array in the valley.
• Three Evil Cultivators ambushed Wang Ke, but he revealed his Foundation Establishment cultivation and turned them into chess stones.
• Wang Ke activated the teleportation array and left the Chu Kingdom after glancing toward the Chu Capital and mentioning Song Yan and Song Yesheng.
• Song Yan traveled northeast with Xiao Han and Xiao He and chose to visit Immortal-Descending Pass, the Chu Kingdom's largest gathering place for Rogue Cultivators.
• A storyteller described the fourth-tier flood dragon's destruction of the Purple Source Sect and the cultivators' failed attempt to defeat it.
• The storyteller introduced an old man in a straw raincoat who trapped the flood dragon in a formation and sent a sword-light pellet toward its brow, then stopped before revealing what happened next.

Song Yan heard the legend of a Straw-Cloaked Old Man who slew a wicked flood dragon and wondered if he was the senior he had met in Wushan Valley. After selling unwanted items and meeting Li Qingfeng and Cen Qinghe in Immortal-Descending Pass, he learned that General Xiao Ming had died and saw an elderly fisherman whose appearance recalled the legend.

• A storyteller recounted how the Straw-Cloaked Old Man used a sword strike to kill a wicked flood dragon, leading cultivators to gather at Immortal-Descending Pass.
• Song Yan wondered whether the legendary old man was the senior he had encountered in Wushan Valley, then declined Qin Yicao's invitation to a barter gathering.
• Song Yan sold unwanted goods at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion and bought ingredients and pills before running into Li Qingfeng and Cen Qinghe.
• Li Qingfeng told Song Yan that Cen Qinghe had reached the sixth Qi Refining layer and that they were returning to the sect, while Song Yan revealed he was preparing for Foundation Establishment.
• Li Qingfeng said Senior Brother Li Yi had gone to visit General Xiao Ming, who had died peacefully half a month earlier.
• Song Yan decided to buy a few more things before returning to Lanxi Cave, then noticed an elderly fisherman in a straw cape and bamboo hat passing by.

Song Yan commissioned a Moon-Cleansing Talisman from Jiang Gudong at Strange Talisman Inn, then left Immortal-Descending Pass with Xiao Ju and Xiao He. At Yingjing’s docks, the Two-Pole Bead stirred and the Mysterious Calamity Spirit-Worshipping Veil led him to a mortal old man fishing by the river, whom Song Yan approached with wine.

• Song Yan disguised himself and commissioned a second-tier high-grade Moon-Cleansing Talisman from Jiang Gudong, supplying three Moon-Supporting Ancient Lotus petals and agreeing to return in three months.
• Song Yan confirmed no one was following him, met Xiao Ju and Xiao He, and left Immortal-Descending Pass for Yingjing’s docks to travel by water.
• At the docks, the Two-Pole Bead stirred, and Song Yan used the Mysterious Calamity Spirit-Worshipping Veil to follow a faint sword Dao presence along the riverbank.
• Song Yan found an old man fishing from a riverside cliff, apologized for startling him, and offered him wine.

Song Yan discovered that the fisherman Xiao Ming was the late Chu Kingdom general, and the Straw-Cloaked Guest helped him recover memories of his life and death. Xiao Ming learned he had died before his allotted time and agreed to see how the Xiao Household had reacted.

• Song Yan questioned Xiao Ming about his name and mentioned Li Yi, prompting Xiao Ming to remember their past together.
• Xiao Ming recalled meeting the Straw-Cloaked Guest on Black Mountain, receiving a spirit sword, and rising through the Chu Kingdom’s military ranks.
• Xiao Ming remembered that court suspicion and his family’s desire for his death had left him weary, and he had died quietly while hoping to reunite with his wife.
• The Straw-Cloaked Guest told Xiao Ming that he still had at least two years of life remaining and had brought about his early death to spare him further suffering.
• Xiao Ming agreed to see what had happened to the Xiao Household after his death, and the Straw-Cloaked Guest began revealing the scene in the sky.

Song Yan accompanied Xiao Ming back to the Xiao Residence, where he revived the general and reunited him with his family. After Qin Yicao and Prince Shi Ying arrived to investigate, Qin Yicao suspected Song Yan had taken Xiao Ming’s Spirit Sword and secretly pursued him.

• Xiao Ming saw his family mourning him and begged the Straw-Cloaked Old Man to restore his life, so the old man sent him back with Song Yan.
• Song Yan entered the Xiao Residence disguised as Daoist Tong Chuping and revived Xiao Ming in front of the mourning family.
• Xiao Ming reunited with his family, and the Xiao household held a feast to honor Song Yan.
• King You Xiong sent Prince Shi Ying and Qin Yicao to investigate Xiao Ming’s return, while Qin Yicao privately sought the sword he believed Xiao Ming possessed.
• Qin Yicao met Song Yan at the Xiao family feast, then pursued him after suspecting he had taken the Spirit Sword.

Song Yan confronted Qin Yicao, who demanded Xiao Ming’s spirit sword and admitted involvement in General Xiao’s death. Song Yan killed Qin Yicao before his secret technique could fully stabilize, burned the body, and left with his Heaven and Earth Bag.

• Qin Yicao searched the riverside woods for Song Yan, then found him standing on a cliff and demanded Xiao Ming’s spirit sword.
• Song Yan questioned Qin Yicao about General Xiao’s death, and Qin Yicao admitted his guilt before attacking with a Five-Phases Linked-Pearl Talisman Formation.
• Song Yan broke through Qin Yicao’s talisman attacks with his swords and formed the Moon Ring Sword Formation.
• Qin Yicao activated a strength-enhancing secret technique and attacked Song Yan with an Ancient Bronze Mirror.
• Song Yan unleashed Moonfall, pierced Qin Yicao’s head with the Unmoored Boat, and killed him.
• Song Yan burned Qin Yicao’s corpse, took his Heaven and Earth Bag, and left the cliff.

Xiao Ming experienced an illusory vision of the hardship and estrangement that awaited if he returned to life, then chose to remain dead after seeing his family mourn him sincerely. The Straw-Cloaked Old Man sent Xiao Ming on, gave Song Yan a spiritual bead to help establish his Dao Foundation, and disappeared.

• Xiao Ming awoke in a vision after sixteen days unconscious, but his return to life brought court suspicion and declining fortunes for the Xiao Household.
• At a family banquet, Xiao Ming confronted his relatives after hearing them call him a monster and accuse him of bringing trouble to the household, then collapsed.
• Xiao Ming woke beside the river with Song Yan and the Straw-Cloaked Old Man, who revealed that his return had been an illusory dream of what would happen if he went back.
• Xiao Ming saw his family mourning at his grave and chose not to return, accepting that they remembered him better as a dead grandfather.
• Xiao Ming dissipated, and the Straw-Cloaked Old Man gathered the spiritual light into a bead and gave it to Song Yan to help him establish his Dao Foundation.

Song Yan examined Qin Yicao’s belongings, refined a water-element supreme spiritual object, and discovered the Purple Qi Void-Union True Art. After refining the mysterious Spirit Pearl bestowed by the senior, he found it transformed into powerful sword light, which he recognized as a form of Inner Sword Method; he remained focused on establishing his Dao Foundation.

• Song Yan searched Qin Yicao’s Heaven and Earth Bag and refined a strange water-element supreme spiritual object, causing a river to appear in the Two-Pole Realm and changing the Seed of the Sword Dao.
• Song Yan studied the Purple Qi Void-Union True Art, learned how it could strengthen Spiritual Power, and put it aside so he could focus on reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Song Yan examined the Spirit Pearl, and Xiao He identified its scent as belonging to a demon, though Song Yan could not detect any Demon Qi.
• Song Yan spent twelve hours refining the pearl, which transformed into concealed but immense sword light that he could control like Spiritual Power.
• Song Yan considered whether the pearl was a Sword Pellet and connected its sword cultivation path to the Inner Sword Method.

Song Yan discovered that the Mirage Sword Pellet could open a small world where he could cultivate, and he decided to stay near Immortal-Descending Pass while preparing for Foundation Establishment. He inspected a secluded cave abode at Northern Mountain and considered renting it for three months.

• Song Yan entered the Sword Pellet’s Dream Small World, found he could cultivate and use his supplies there, and learned that only a little time passed in reality.
• Song Yan changed his plans and headed to Immortal-Descending Pass with Xiao Ju and Xiao He to rent a cave abode while he cultivated and attempted to refine pills.
• Nangong Ling told Song Yan that Immortal-Descending Pass’s reputation came from a senior slaying a flood dragon and that Sword-Breath Rock was associated with the event.
• Nangong Ling led Song Yan’s group to the Stream-Listening Retreat at Northern Mountain, where Song Yan found the quiet cave abode suitable for his stay.

After three months of seclusion, Song Yan completed two Foundation Establishment Pills and collected three Moon-Cleansing Talismans before returning toward Lanxi Cave. There, he learned that Jiang Chaoshen had recently attained the Golden Core realm, transforming Lanxi Cave into a place presided over by a Golden Core True Person.

• Song Yan spent three months cultivating in a rented cave abode and successfully refined one high-grade and one middle-grade Foundation Establishment Pill after multiple failed attempts.
• Song Yan collected three Moon-Cleansing Talismans from Su Changcai, including an extra talisman Jiang Gudong had made from the remaining spiritual material.
• Song Yan reunited with Xiao Ju and Xiao He, then left Immortal-Descending Pass aboard the Red Dust Chariot to return to Lanxi Cave.
• Song Yan noticed unusual Spiritual Qi and festive decorations at Lanxi Cave's Market Ward upon arrival.
• A patrolling guard told Song Yan and Xiao Ju that Jiang Chaoshen had attained the Golden Core realm, making Lanxi Cave a blessed land under a Golden Core True Person.

Song Yan left Lanxi Cave with Xiao Ju and offered to take her as his disciple if he successfully established his foundation. After returning to the Dongyuan Sect, he visited Qin Xijun, who gave him five Foundation Establishment Pills before his planned seclusion.

• Song Yan returned the Red Dust Chariot's jade key, left Lanxi Cave with Xiao Ju and Xiao He, and asked Xiao Ju whether she wanted to continue traveling with him.
• Xiao Ju chose to stay beside Song Yan, and he promised to take her as his disciple if he successfully established his foundation.
• Song Yan attended an auction on the way back but found no suitable cultivation method and continued toward the sect.
• After half a month, Song Yan reached the Dongyuan Sect and returned to his Earth Character Twenty-One cave abode with Xiao Ju.
• Song Yan visited Qin Xijun and told her he was preparing to attempt Foundation Establishment.
• Qin Xijun gave Song Yan five Foundation Establishment Pills and urged him not to rush.

Song Yan spent more than ten months cultivating in the Mirage realm, stabilizing his Qi Refining realm and preparing for foundation establishment. After merging the Sword Mansion of the Dao-Subduing with his Qi Sea, he reached the critical moment of his breakthrough and prepared to take an Upper-Grade Foundation Establishment Pill.

• Song Yan gave Xiao Ju the Essentials of Formation Diagrams and encouraged her to study formations while he entered seclusion.
• Song Yan used the Mirage realm and Spirit-Gathering Sword Formation to cultivate without pills at first, while studying Yuan Zhen’s Foundation Establishment Insights.
• Over ten months, Song Yan stabilized his cultivation, gradually used foundation-strengthening pills, and reached Qi Refining tenth-layer perfection.
• Song Yan began building his Dao foundation by merging the Sword Mansion of the Dao-Subduing with his Qi Sea, enduring intense pain as it transformed into a vast sea of sword Qi.
• Song Yan prepared Moon-Cleansing Talismans and other items, then drew out an Upper-Grade Foundation Establishment Pill as he readied himself to break through.

Song Yan completed Foundation Establishment, forming a Sword Dao Lotus and Myriad Phenomena Dao Patterns while the Mirage Bead Sword Pellet merged into his foundation. After stabilizing his new realm and discovering he could read but not yet practice the Six Void Heaven-Falling Sword Finger, he entered the Two-Pole Realm and saw an immense ink-wash image filling the sky.

• Song Yan absorbed the superior-grade Foundation Establishment Pill and Spirit Stones, completing his Dao Foundation as a Sword Dao Lotus bloomed and Myriad Phenomena Dao Patterns appeared around it.
• The Mirage Bead Sword Pellet shattered and merged into the lotus, leaving a dreamlike purple glow at its center.
• Song Yan’s Sword Qi cleansed and strengthened his body, and he completed Foundation Establishment without encountering the Heart Demon.
• Song Yan refined Sacrificial Qilin Lord, Joined Branches, and Moon-Crying, while Unmoored Boat rose to the level of a supreme law artifact.
• Song Yan read the inheritance of the Six Void Heaven-Falling Sword Finger but could not yet practice it, and he considered combining its principles with Green Snake in the Sleeve Sword Qi.
• The Straw-Cloaked Old Man sensed the Mirage Bead’s presence had vanished, while Song Yan entered the Two-Pole Realm and saw an enormous ink-wash image in the sky.