Chapter Summaries

Song Yan reached Horseshoe Pool to help investigate the Devil Cultivators and learned that Li Yi had lost his old memories. At Baiyun Mountain, villagers bringing gifts to Li Yi were transformed into blood and flesh, and the outpost was trapped in a Blood Slaughter Rebirth Formation.

• Song Yan arrived at Horseshoe Pool, where Lu Si told him that Li Yi had gone to garrison Baiyun Mountain and left him a cup of wine.
• Song Yan realized that Li Yi no longer remembered their past, then drank the wine Li Yi had set aside for him.
• Li Yi and his officers received villagers from Wangjiawa who had brought gifts to thank him for protecting the area.
• The old villager and those around him burst into foul blood and flesh, and the blood infected and killed several Office Soldiers.
• Li Yi recognized the Blood Slaughter Rebirth Formation as it trapped the Baiyun Mountain outpost, while two Golden Core cultivators appeared and accused him of acting under Lu Xuanling's protection.
• Li Yi blamed himself for the villagers' deaths as the two cultivators confronted him.

Li Yi fought a Golden Core Devil Cultivator inside a blood formation at Baiyun Mountain while the Seed Demon Way targeted Cloud-Parting Valley. At the formation, Zhou Yan revealed that he could use his Tai Sui Embryo to restore the villagers trapped as formation eyes, even though doing so would cost him his life, and Fang Cunsheng agreed to help.

• The Seed Demon Way trapped Li Yi and the soldiers at Baiyun Mountain in a Blood Slaughter Rebirth Formation, but Li Yi struck back against a Golden Core Devil Cultivator despite the formation's suppression.
• Song Yan learned that Baiyun Mountain was under attack and that Demon Ruins Cultivators were gathering at Cloud-Parting Valley; he sent Fang Cunsheng to investigate while Lu Si sought reinforcements.
• Fang Cunsheng found Li Yi battling inside the formation and encountered Zhou Yan, who planned to break it by using his Tai Sui Embryo to restore the villagers serving as formation eyes.
• Zhou Yan explained that the sacrifice would destroy his Dao Foundation and kill him, and Fang Cunsheng agreed to help him proceed.
• An Office Soldier tried to destroy a blood-colored formation eye, but the silhouette regenerated and a villager cried out in pain from within it.

Zhou Yan and Fang Cunsheng broke the Blood Slaughter Rebirth Formation by drawing the blood shadows out of it, but Zhou Yan died and Fang Cunsheng lost his chance to continue cultivating. With the formation gone and the Office Soldiers restored, Li Yi rallied them to attack the Devil Cultivators.

• The blue-robed Devil Cultivator absorbed blood shadows to strengthen himself, but Zhou Yan’s Tai Sui Embryo began drawing many of them away from the formation.
• Zhou Yan used a jade talisman to raise his cultivation toward the Golden Core Realm, while Fang Cunsheng burned his Spiritual Power and Dao Foundation to help him.
• A hidden swordsman struck the formation-controlling Devil Cultivator and stopped his blood blade from killing Zhou Yan and Fang Cunsheng.
• Zhou Yan reached the Golden Core Realm, freed the blood shadows, and broke the formation, restoring the Office Soldiers’ strength.
• The Tai Sui Embryo’s power ran out, and Zhou Yan died after Li Yi caught him; Fang Cunsheng collapsed after burning his Dao Foundation.
• Li Yi handed Zhou Yan’s body to Lü Luo, then ordered the Heaven’s Deputy Office soldiers to attack the Devil Cultivators.

Song Yan confronted Shi Yunhao in Cloud-Parting Valley as the Demon Cultivators drained Gao Xing to weaken the seal on an Ancient Sword. The sword broke free during their fight, and as Ku Qian and Xiao He moved to claim it, their rivalry left the battle unresolved.

• Shi Yunhao told Ku Qian that the sealed Flying Sword was a gift, then identified the approaching Song Yan as his prey and sent a Nascent Soul Cultivator away to guard against reinforcements.
• Song Yan arrived, recognized the drained Gao Xing, and eventually remembered Shi Yunhao from their encounters in the Chu Kingdom.
• Shi Yunhao attacked with his White Bone Chains, while Song Yan countered with his swords and Avīci Illustrated Scroll; Shi Yunhao’s Asura Ghost Garment resisted the sword strike, and Song Yan’s mind resisted the chains.
• The Ancient Sword broke free of the mountain’s seal, and Song Yan and Shi Yunhao struggled to seize it with their divine senses.
• Shi Yunhao ordered Ku Qian to take the sword, but Snake Treasure, whom Song Yan called Xiao He, intercepted her and transformed into the Jade Girl.
• Ku Qian drew her scimitars to face Xiao He, who asked whether she knew Song Yan and warned her not to look at him.

Song Yan fought Shi Yunhao inside the Ghost Domain, revealing his powerful Void-Aspect Dharma Body and forcing Shi Yunhao to retreat. A Demon Spirit Sect Nascent Soul cultivator arrived to extract Shi Yunhao and Ku Qian after reporting that their forces had suffered defeats elsewhere.

• Shi Yunhao trapped Song Yan with his Ghost Domain and skeletal chains, but Song Yan revealed that the apparent capture was an illusion and unleashed his Avīci Prison Sword Intent.
• Shi Yunhao summoned the Desire Realm Heaven Asura Dharma Body, while Song Yan manifested the Void-Aspect Dharma Body, which devoured Ghost Qi and Demonic Qi as it fought.
• Song Yan empowered his attacks with Purple Qi Floats Above the Pass and drove back Shi Yunhao's Dharma Body, severing one of its arms and strengthening Void Aspect.
• Shi Yunhao summoned a Spirit Talisman, and a gray-robed Demon Spirit Sect Nascent Soul cultivator arrived as Liu Tianfang's attack disrupted his attempt to seize the Ancient Sword.
• The gray-robed cultivator told Shi Yunhao that Li Yi had routed the Seed Demon Way at Baiyun Mountain and that Heaven's Deputy Office forces were approaching, so Shi Yunhao withdrew with Ku Qian.

After resolving the crisis in Cloud-Parting Valley, Song Yan learned about the Asura Path and arranged to redeem the recovered Flying Sword with military merit. He visited Fang Cunsheng at Zhou Yan’s grave and offered him a chance to pursue a new Dao Path, while villagers gathered to honor the deceased Zhou Yan.

• Liu Tianfang identified Shi Yunhao as the Asura Path’s Dao Child and explained that each generation’s Asura had to be its strongest cultivator.
• Song Yan returned the recovered Flying Sword to Liu Tianfang for appraisal and asked to redeem it with military merit; a battle report confirmed Li Yi had destroyed the Seed Demon Way around Baiyun Mountain.
• At Zhou Yan’s grave, Master He told Fang Cunsheng he was leaving Huliang, and Song Yan arrived to pay his respects.
• Song Yan offered Fang Cunsheng a chance to follow a new Dao Path despite the risk of becoming a mortal, and Fang Cunsheng agreed to try.
• Fang Cunsheng chose to stay beside Zhou Yan’s grave for a few days, as villagers from the surrounding settlements arrived to honor Zhou Yan.

Song Yan reunited with Sheng Nian, arranged for A Yun to go to Jun Mountain, and refined an Ancient Sword before a change in his Two-Pole Realm began. The story then followed Yuyan and Tanshi in the Eastern Wilderness, where Yuyan killed a Demon Sect Young Lord and the sect threatened the region’s mortals to draw him out.

• Song Yan told Sheng Nian he had recognized him at the Taiyi Sect and agreed to take A Yun to Jun Mountain with Ju Luyi.
• Song Yan refined the Buddhist relic-repaired Ancient Sword and stored it in the Infinite Treasury as visions stirred within his Two-Pole Realm.
• Yuyan and Tanshi discussed the equal worth of lives and the purpose of Buddhist killing techniques while traveling through the Eastern Wilderness.
• Yuyan pressed Tanshi to show him the temple’s Sword Finger technique, but Tanshi refused and withdrew to meditate.
• Yuyan killed the Demon Sect Young Lord after witnessing him abducting women and girls to practice his Hehuan Evil Cultivation Method.
• The Demon Sect seized villagers and threatened mortals across the Eastern Wilderness to force Yuyan to reveal himself.

Yuyan and Tanshi fought to protect the Eastern Wilderness’s commoners from the Demon Sect, and Tanshi made a great vow that bound the region’s cultivators’ fates to the survival of mortals. After Tanshi and Yuyan died in battle, the commoners took up Yuyan’s sword, and the Eastern Wilderness’s cultivators finally united to defeat the Devil Cultivators.

• Tanshi gave Yuyan a Dharma-Transmission Wooden Figure, and Yuyan learned the Six Void Heaven-Falling Sword Finger, Shaoshang Sword.
• Yuyan and Tanshi saved Huzi from a Devil Cultivator and left to fight the Demon Sect’s forces.
• Yuyan battled the Demon Sect for days until exhausted, while Tanshi protected him and the commoners gathered to stand against the Devil Cultivators.
• Tanshi sacrificed himself to make a great vow that tied every Eastern Wilderness cultivator’s fortune and Dao Path to the survival of its mortals, and his Śarīra merged with Yuyan’s Flying Sword.
• Yuyan used the transformed sword to wound the palanquin’s master before dying, and the commoners took turns wielding his sword against the Devil Cultivators.
• The Eastern Wilderness’s cultivators united with the commoners and defeated the Devil Cultivators, then sealed Yuyan’s sword in Cloud-Parting Valley.

Song Yan gained the Shaoshang Sword technique from Senior Yuyan’s Flying Sword and prepared to leave the Eastern Wilderness for the Chu Kingdom. At Blackwater Pass, he completed his departure arrangements, named Fang Cunsheng his disciple, and learned that Li Yi had already been sent to Mount Li.

• Song Yan named the reborn Flying Sword Great Vow for All Under Heaven and received the Shaoshang Sword portion of the Six Void Heaven-Falling Sword Finger.
• Song Yan studied the Shaoshang Sword for three days and found it far more powerful than the Shaochong Sword, with no upper limit on the Sword Qi it could consume.
• Feng Siyuan and a Little Daoist Boy summoned Song Yan to Blackwater Pass, while Deng Ke returned Song Yan’s repaired Sword Sect Jade Seal.
• Song Yan told Xiao He and Deng Ke that he planned to visit the Chu Kingdom and the Sword Sect, and he considered bringing his disciple Xiao Ju to acknowledge her roots there.
• At Blackwater Pass, Song Yan relinquished his post, exchanged his remaining military merits for Spirit Stones, and asked Xu Zhiye and Liu Tianfang to bring his new Named Disciple, Fang Cunsheng, back to Jun Mountain.
• Song Yan learned from Lü Luo that Li Yi had received a Mobilization Order and left for Mount Li three days earlier.

Li Yi led Heaven's Deputy Office soldiers toward Mount Li for standby duty while wondering why the area had become troubled. Meanwhile, Li Qingfeng learned that the Xuanyuan Sect planned to test the Dongyuan Sect at the Nine Veins Grand Competition, and Li Pang hurried to warn them as Lü Ketai prepared to destroy the sect.

• Li Yi rested his company by a lake, discussed Mount Li's unexplained troubles with a young office soldier, and ordered the soldiers onward.
• Li Pang returned to the Chu Kingdom, heard cultivators discuss Song Yan and Ju Luyi, and learned the Xuanyuan Sect meant to use the Nine Veins Grand Competition to probe the Dongyuan Sect's strength.
• Li Pang rushed toward the Dongyuan Sect after hearing Ju Luyi could be killed if the sect proved too weak to resist the Xuanyuan Sect.
• Deng Yu offered Lü Ketai the Hehuan Sect's help in destroying the Dongyuan Sect, but Lü Ketai refused and said he would kill its members himself if Chen Linyuan was dead and it had no Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Wu Zheng left Lü Ketai's courtyard and reflected that he had once been a Dongyuan Sect disciple before joining the Yellow Springs Way.

Song Yan and Deng Ke entered the Sword Sect’s Inner Sect through the Eighteen-Pavilion Crossing, where the trial sealed their cultivation and tested their swordsmanship. Song Yan failed the first exchange, but Deng Ke passed by relying on the basic sword forms he had practiced for nearly a century.

• Song Yan, Deng Ke, and Xiao He arrived at the Sword Sect Ruins, and Deng Ke told Song Yan that his clan’s records traced the sect’s founding patriarch, Ancestor Zheng, to an ascension thirty thousand years earlier.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke entered the Inner Sect grounds and learned from Deng Ke’s map that the Eighteen-Pavilion Crossing required entrants to pass eighteen Sword-Comprehension Pavilion trials.
• The crossing’s power sealed Song Yan and Deng Ke’s cultivation, while Xiao He reverted to a snake and hid in Song Yan’s robe.
• At the first pavilion, the phantom disarmed Song Yan after he tried to counter with Blameless Sword Momentum, then attacked Deng Ke when he caught the bamboo sword.
• Deng Ke defended himself with the basic sword forms and passed the trial, revealing that they were the only swordsmanship he had practiced for nearly a hundred years.

Song Yan renewed his Sword Dao foundations through the Eighteen-Pavilion Crossing and, with Deng Ke, reached the Sword Sect’s Inner Sect. In the Patriarch Hall, they found a message from Zhong Min saying the Sword Sect had not been destroyed and warning its inheritors to beware of the Yellow Springs Way.

• Song Yan reflected on his weak sword foundations, restarted the first pavilion trial, and defeated its figure by relying on basic sword forms.
• Song Yan repeatedly studied and challenged the pavilion figures, gradually deepening his swordsmanship until he passed the final trial alongside Deng Ke.
• The Crossing Pavilion figure blew Song Yan and Deng Ke off the summit, and a sword light carried them to Fallen Sword Terrace as their cultivation recovered.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke entered the Patriarch Hall, paid respects to the Sword Sect’s patriarchs, and found Zhong Min’s jade slip beneath a cushion.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke learned that the Sword Sect had left temporarily and that its inheritors should beware of cultivators of the Yellow Springs Way.

Song Yan and Deng Ke searched the Sword Sect for useful resources but found almost nothing, then explored Sword-Listening Cliff, where Deng Ke entered seclusion. Song Yan used the Infinite Treasury to revisit Chen Linyuan’s sword strike and was stunned when Chen Linyuan appeared to speak to him, claiming he was dead and not truly Chen Linyuan.

• Song Yan and Deng Ke read Zhong Min’s warning about the Yellow Springs Way, then searched the Sword Sect’s halls and found only a few old flying swords.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke discussed how to rebuild the Sword Sect, including recruiting disciples, developing businesses, and seeking resources in the Eastern Wilderness.
• At Western Heaven Sword-Listening Cliff, Deng Ke gained an insight and entered seclusion while Song Yan sensed spiritual potency flowing toward the Infinite Treasury during a storm.
• Song Yan poured Two-Pole Qi into Sole Laughter and reopened the Sword Dao illusion of Chen Linyuan defeating nine Nascent Soul devil cultivators.
• Chen Linyuan spoke directly to Song Yan, told him to call him Senior Brother, and explained that he was already dead and was not strictly Chen Linyuan.

Song Yan learned from Chen Linyuan how to refine his sword techniques before the illusion realm faded, then traveled with Deng Ke toward the Nine Veins Grand Competition. In Forget-Worry Market Ward, they heard that the Xuanyuan Sect planned to publicly execute Ju Luyi, putting the Dongyuan Sect in danger.

• Chen Linyuan urged Song Yan to create a sword strike of his own and helped him simplify the Shaochong Sword and Shaoshang Sword techniques.
• The Sword Dao Illusion Realm dispersed, and Chen Linyuan vanished; Song Yan returned to the real world at Western Heaven Sword-Listening Cliff.
• After Deng Ke emerged from seclusion, he and Song Yan set out for the Dongyuan Sect but learned that the Nine Veins Grand Competition was underway in Lichuan.
• Song Yan and Deng Ke changed course for the competition, and Deng Ke began choosing a first-meeting gift for Song Yan's disciple, Xiao Ju.
• At Forget-Worry Market Ward, Song Yan and Deng Ke overheard cultivators say the Xuanyuan Sect had taken Ju Luyi into custody and planned to execute her publicly.

As the Dongyuan Sect and its allies demanded Ju Luyi’s release at the Nine Veins Summit, the Xuanyuan Sect’s Xiao Langyu threatened them with his late Golden Core power. A young Daoist arrived in crow form, resisted Xiao Langyu’s pressure, and demanded to know where his disciple Ju Luyi was.

• At the Nine Veins Summit, Xi Shuyan learned that the Dongyuan Sect’s sect master had arrived and left the Martial Practice Ground as Dongyuan Sect cultivators also headed to Bingzhu Academy.
• Xiao Langyu began his final Dao lecture while Luo Xiaming, Xu Ziqing, and Li Qingfeng arrived to demand Ju Luyi’s return; Xi Shuyan followed them.
• Xiao Langyu defended Ju Luyi’s detention, while Luo Xiaming insisted the Xuanyuan Sect had no right to judge the matter alone.
• Nangong Xuanlang and True Person Shaoxuan backed the Dongyuan Sect, and Xiao Langyu invoked the Xuanyuan Sect’s duty to enforce order before unleashing his late Golden Core pressure.
• A crow transformed into a young Daoist who remained unmoved by Xiao Langyu’s pressure and demanded to know where Ju Luyi was, promising to spare him if he answered.

Song Yan returned to Lichuan and demanded to know where his disciple Xiao Ju was, then killed Xiao Langyu despite Lü Ketai’s intervention. He pressed Lü Ketai for Xiao Ju’s whereabouts, leaving the Nascent Soul True Lord facing him on the Chaotian Altar.

• Song Yan arrived at the Chaotian Altar and identified Ju Luyi as his disciple, while cultivators across Chu Kingdom recognized him as a Golden Core cultivator.
• Xiao Langyu declared that Ju Luyi would be publicly executed the next day, and Song Yan challenged him to a fight.
• Song Yan and Xiao Langyu fought with their abilities, but a strange ripple erased the battle while leaving Xiao Langyu’s spent essence blood and law power intact.
• Song Yan attacked Xiao Langyu again, but Lü Ketai appeared and caught the Sword Qi before it could kill him.
• Song Yan’s lingering Sword Qi struck Xiao Langyu, then gathered and pierced him with a final sword light, killing him before Lü Ketai could intervene.
• Song Yan demanded that Lü Ketai tell him where Xiao Ju was, while Lü Ketai regarded him with hostility.

Song Yan fought Lü Ketai above Chaotian Altar after the Xuanyuan Sect and Dongyuan Sect drew their forces into battle. He destroyed Lü Ketai’s body and nascent soul, then demanded Deng Yu hand over his disciple.

• Lü Ketai brought Xuanyuan Sect reinforcements to face Song Yan and the Dongyuan Sect, while Deng Yu arrived with Elysian Heaven and revealed she held Song Yan’s disciple.
• Deng Yu tried to bargain for a night with Song Yan, but Xiao He attacked her, triggering the battle between the Golden Core cultivators.
• Song Yan fought Lü Ketai with the Unmoored Boat and his sword arts, breaking through the Mountain-Subduing Seal and forcing Lü Ketai to flee.
• Song Yan launched the Shaoshang Sword, destroyed Lü Ketai’s physical body, and pursued his escaping nascent soul into Great Night Filling the Sky.
• Song Yan’s Asura Dharma Body crushed Lü Ketai’s nascent soul, killing him, and Song Yan turned to Deng Yu and demanded she hand over his disciple.

Song Yan killed Lü Ketai and forced Deng Yu to reveal Ju Luyi, who was imprisoned in Elysian Heaven. Ju Luyi resisted Deng Yu’s illusion, escaped the formation, and killed her, leaving the battlefield stunned.

• Song Yan’s killing of Lü Ketai stunned the cultivators gathered at Bingzhu Academy’s Chaotian Altar and ended the battle between the Dongyuan and Xuanyuan Sects.
• Deng Yu stopped fighting and raised Elysian Heaven, revealing Ju Luyi imprisoned inside; Song Yan demanded that she return his disciple.
• Deng Yu used the Myriad Transformations Hehuan Bewitching Formation to exploit Ju Luyi’s feelings for Song Yan and tried to make her succumb to an illusion of her master.
• Ju Luyi rejected the illusion in anger, escaped Elysian Heaven, and appeared before Deng Yu’s True Body.
• Ju Luyi killed Deng Yu with Flying Sword Joined Branches as the cultivators watched in silence.

After Ju Luyi killed Deng Yu, Song Yan faced down the Xuanyuan Sect’s Golden Core cultivators and announced a campaign against its remnants across the Chu Kingdom. Back at Sword-Wiping Peak, Xiao Ju woke from her injuries and learned that Lü Ketai was dead and the Xuanyuan Sect was on the verge of destruction.

• Ju Luyi killed Deng Yu and collapsed from exhaustion, while Song Yan confronted the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators at the Chaotian Altar.
• Lou Zhengze urged the Xuanyuan Sect cultivators to attack Song Yan, then tried to detonate his Golden Core when they refused; True Person Shaoxuan and the other cultivators suppressed him.
• Several Xuanyuan Sect cultivators fled, and Song Yan called on the Righteous Path throughout the Chu Kingdom to hunt down the sect’s remnants.
• Song Yan left the aftermath at Lichuan to Luo Xiaming and Xu Ziqing, then returned to the Dongyuan Sect with Ju Luyi to recover.
• Xiao Ju woke in Song Yan’s cave abode, learned she had killed Deng Yu, and was stunned when Song Yan told her Lü Ketai was dead and the Xuanyuan Sect might soon be gone.

Song Yan visited Xiao Ju after she awakened and then traveled to the Nangong Clan Lands to see Qin Xijun. He confronted Qin Xijun with the farewell letter he had found, leaving her to explain why she had written it.

• Song Yan told Xiao Ju that he and Sheng Nian had killed Lü Ketai, encouraged her recovery, and left Xiao He to look after her.
• Xiao He reunited with Xiao Ju and recounted what had happened on Lichuan, prompting Xiao Ju to hide beneath the covers in embarrassment.
• Song Yan visited Nangong Xuanlang and Nangong Ming, thanked the Nangong Aristocratic Clan for supporting the Dongyuan Sect, and met Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling.
• Song Yan gave Lu Ziye and Nangong Ling clay wedding gifts made by Xiao He, then went to the courtyard to speak privately with Qin Xijun.
• Song Yan showed Qin Xijun the farewell letter he had found and accused her of lying to him.