Chapter Summaries

After settling his sword intents, Song Yan prepared to attempt Nascent Soul formation, but the Elder Mirage Dragon instead sent him to the Sea Kingdom as Princess Lingsi’s future husband. The wedding was announced for the following month, and Kui received an invitation.

• Song Yan learned that Golden Core sword cultivators were generally limited to the Third Realm, while Zheng Tianqi had cultivated nine Third Realm sword intents at that stage.
• Song Yan left the Two-Pole Realm and found that the Elder Mirage Dragon had summoned him because Ling Jia had proposed a marriage between him and Princess Lingsi.
• The Elder Mirage Dragon told Song Yan that Tushan Yu, Qingqiu’s ruler and a likely future Domain Lord, also seemed interested in him, perhaps because of her connection to Chen Linyuan.
• The Elder Mirage Dragon announced that Song Yan’s wedding would take place on the sixth of the next month and sent him to the Royal Palace as the Sea Kingdom’s Prince Consort.
• The Sea Kingdom announced Princess Lingsi’s wedding, invitations and wedding preparations spread through the Wilderness of the Heavenly Capital, and Kui smiled as he received one.

With the Assembly of Kings suspended, the Diren Tribe remained the Royal Clan, and preparations began for Princess Lingsi and Song Yan’s wedding. The wedding procession brought Song Yan to the coastal venue, where the ceremony began before the demon kings and invited guests, while Xiao He waited in the bedchamber to switch places with Lingsi.

• Song Yan asked Xiao He about Qingqiu and Tushan Yu, and she said she knew little about the distant clan’s upheavals.
• Lingsi showed Song Yan and Xiao He their wedding clothes and explained that their embroidered birds represented the Golden Crow and the phoenix in an ancient demon legend.
• At dusk, the Sea Kingdom’s wedding procession brought Song Yan from the Thousand Mountains Great Continent to the Royal Palace’s coastal wedding venue.
• King Yu presented Ling Jia with rare gold-joining mud, and other demon kings offered wedding gifts while Kui failed to arrive before the auspicious hour.
• Lingsi and Song Yan entered the venue as the guests watched; Xiao He had gone ahead to the bedchamber, and Tushan Yu remarked that Song Yan was even more handsome than Chen Linyuan had been.

Song Yan completed the Sea Kingdom wedding ceremony with Lingsi while worrying about his survival and reuniting with his friends. Xiao He discovered that an impostor had impersonated Lingsi, but Tushan Yu appeared in the bridal chamber and trapped Song Yan.

• Song Yan and Lingsi followed the wedding rites, exchanged toasts with guests, and returned to the Royal Palace after the feast.
• Xiao He waited for Lingsi to switch places with her, but an impostor posing as Lingsi persuaded her not to go to the bridal chamber.
• The real Lingsi returned and told Xiao He that she had been at the banquet, revealing that the earlier visitor was an impostor.
• Song Yan waited in the bridal chamber and spoke to the veiled woman he believed was Xiao He.
• The woman revealed herself as Tushan Yu, bound Song Yan so he could not move, and taunted him about his affection for Xiao He and Lingsi.

Tushan Yu used a bridal-room encounter to confront Song Yan about Chen Linyuan, but Song Yan vanished through a divine ability and was brought to Flowing Wave Mountain by Kui. Mirage, Ling Jia, Lingsi, and Xiao He arrived, and Kui revealed his grievance against Ling Jia over Xingxing’s death.

• Tushan Yu tied a ribbon over Song Yan’s eyes, questioned him about Chen Linyuan, and accused Chen of abandoning his Dao Path for a woman.
• Song Yan’s Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water sword intent surged, and he vanished as Lingsi and Xiao He entered the bridal chamber.
• A dragon-shaped demon silhouette flew toward Flowing Wave Mountain, where Kui revealed that he had used Mirage’s Illusory-Reality Divine Ability to bring Song Yan there.
• Kui told Song Yan that a friend wanted to meet him and explained that Mirage had detected his attempt to take Song Yan away.
• Mirage confronted Kui above Flowing Wave Mountain, and Kui said Asura had emerged from seclusion and the Demon Ruins were about to advance.
• Ling Jia arrived with Lingsi and Xiao He, and Kui angrily reminded Ling Jia that he had promised to protect Xingxing 1,425 years earlier.

Song Yan was trapped as Kui’s Pearl of Separation Six Realms submerged Flowing Wave Mountain, but Yangsu Divine Lord, Li Li, entered the restriction and rescued him. Li Li confronted the demon cultivators as a powerful Yang Spirit, leaving Ling Jia surprised to learn that Mirage had abducted Song Yan too.

• Kui confronted Ling Jia about Lingsi’s mother and declared that he would ascend to the upper realm to avenge Xingxing.
• Kui activated the Pearl of Separation Six Realms, sealing Flowing Wave Mountain and sinking it beneath the sea while Mirage attacked the restriction.
• As Song Yan was nearly submerged and Xiao He tried to reach him, a golden figure passed through the restriction and lifted Song Yan out of the water.
• The figure revealed himself as Yangsu Divine Lord, Li Li, and Song Yan recognized him as his master.
• Li Li rebuked the demon cultivators for repeatedly abducting Song Yan and unleashed immense pressure through his Yang Spirit.
• Mirage recognized Li Li’s extraordinary power, while Ling Jia realized that Mirage had also abducted Song Yan.

Li Li rescued Song Yan from the Pearl of Separation Six Realms, and Kui attacked him before Ling Jia confronted Kui over their teacher’s murder. Yangsu Divine Lord joined Ling Jia and Mirage to defeat Kui and stopped his attempted self-destruction, then asked who had led him astray.

• Li Li appeared in Yang Spirit form, pulled Song Yan from the Pearl of Separation Six Realms, and halted Kui’s thunder attack.
• Ling Jia asked Kui whether he had killed Elder Qian, and Kui admitted that he had.
• Ling Jia, Mirage, and Kui fought as Kui imitated their Divine Abilities and battled both Demon Kings.
• Yangsu Divine Lord entered the fight, pierced Kui with golden light, and helped Mirage and Ling Jia subdue him.
• Kui began to self-destruct, but Yangsu Divine Lord interrupted him and separated his Divine Soul from his body.
• Yangsu Divine Lord asked Kui who had led him astray.

While Song Yan waited for Yangsu Divine Lord’s battle with Kui to end, a manifestation of evil karma appeared and revealed that its true self intended to take control of him. Song Yan destroyed the manifestation with Cry Within the Case, but feared its true self would come after him if it learned he could kill evil karma.

• Song Yan reassured Xiao He that nothing had happened between him and Tushan Yu before Kui captured him.
• A manifestation of evil karma appeared to Song Yan alone and said it had discarded Kui, whose presence had been a pawn in its plans.
• The evil karma explained that it arose from fragments of Heavenly Will and planned to take over Song Yan to make him a more perfect sword cultivator.
• The manifestation reached through Yangsu Divine Lord’s technique toward Song Yan, but clear light dispersed its hand.
• Song Yan unleashed Cry Within the Case and destroyed the evil karma manifestation, absorbing it into the Infinite Treasury.
• Song Yan concealed what had happened from Xiao He and Lingsi, wary that the evil karma’s true self would target him if it learned he could destroy its manifestations.

Yangsu Divine Lord questioned Kui about the Immortal who ordered Song Yan’s abduction, and Kui died after revealing that the Immortal sought Song Yan because he could see karmic power. Li Li discovered strange information within Kui’s remains and shared it with Mirage, then stopped him from leaving until he answered for targeting Song Yan.

• Kui claimed that an Immortal promised him eternal life and the power to avenge Xingxing, whom he believed had been killed by another Immortal.
• Yangsu Divine Lord suggested that the Immortal had killed Ling Xing and deceived Kui, then Kui revealed that the Immortal wanted Song Yan because he could see karmic power and threaten him with his Sword Intent Divine Ability.
• Kui asked why the Demon Ruins had not yet acted, but his vitality suddenly faded; after Mirage dispelled the illusion, Kui severed his heart meridians and died while Ling Jia watched.
• Li Li sensed a strange golden light rising from Kui’s corpse, drew it to himself, and received Kui’s memories and information about several cultivators’ abilities.
• Li Li told Mirage what he had learned, then refused to let him leave until he settled the debt for abducting Song Yan and intending to devour him.

Mirage freed Song Yan and gave him the Nine-Star Wandering Years Scripture, the original form of the Five-Star Pulse Seizing art, before departing for the Northern Sea. Yangsu Divine Lord decided to return to Jun Mountain while Song Yan handled his affairs in the Eastern Sea, then announced he would attend Song Yan’s wedding before leaving.

• Yangsu Divine Lord confronted Mirage over Song Yan’s imprisonment, and Mirage offered Song Yan a Thousand-Illusion Mirage Bead as compensation.
• The bead shattered and drew Song Yan into an illusory starry realm, where its stars transmitted the Nine-Star Wandering Years Scripture into his mind.
• Mirage explained that the scripture was Ancestor Li Chunfeng’s Pure Yang inheritance and the original version of Five-Star Pulse Seizing, and warned Song Yan not to tell the Heavenly Derivation Lineage.
• Mirage departed for the Northern Sea to seek an old acquaintance, leaving Song Yan his cave abode and inviting him to visit.
• Yangsu Divine Lord told Song Yan to settle his affairs in the Eastern Sea and cultivate there until he attained Nascent Soul, then said he would have wedding wine before leaving.

Yangsu Divine Lord visited the Sea Kingdom, warned Song Yan to keep his Sword Intent secret, and gave him guidance for forming a Nascent Soul before returning to the Central Region. Over a month later, Song Yan began secluded cultivation in the Elder Mirage Dragon's cave abode and studied the difficult spiritual hurdle before Nascent Soul formation.

• Ling Jia formally greeted Yangsu Divine Lord, and Yangsu accepted a cup of wedding wine before saying he had to return to the Central Region.
• Yangsu Divine Lord took Song Yan aside in a temporary domain and warned him never to reveal that his Sword Intent could see karmic power.
• Yangsu Divine Lord gave Song Yan several jade slips containing his insights on forming a Nascent Soul, then departed.
• Over a month later, Song Yan studied the jade slips in the Elder Mirage Dragon's cave abode and began arduous cultivation toward Nascent Soul formation.
• Song Yan learned that forming a Nascent Soul required overcoming the Self-Slaying Pass, and he turned to the Nine-Star Wandering Years Scripture's account of the Three Spirits.

Song Yan studied the Nine-Star Wandering Years Scripture and reflected on the Consciousness Spirit and Primordial Spirit before Tushan Yu visited to announce she was returning to Between Mountains and Seas. After leaving Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen with him, Tushan Yu departed, while Xiao He chose to stay with Song Yan and Cong Yuzhen revealed that Granny Qin had gone missing.

• Song Yan studied the scripture’s account of the three spirits and considered how the Primordial Spirit related to the Nascent Soul Realm and Sword Dao.
• Tushan Yu arrived with Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen, teased Song Yan and Xiao He, and gave Song Yan an antique bell before announcing her return to Between Mountains and Seas.
• Tushan Yu left Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen with Song Yan, and Cong Yuzhen told him that Granny Qin had gone missing.
• Tushan Yu invited Xiao He to return with her, but Xiao He said she wanted to stay with Song Yan because she feared he might die and wanted to spend time with him.
• Tushan Yu told Xiao He that Song Yan had once wished the person bowing to Heaven and Earth with him was someone else, then advised her to know when to walk away.

Song Yan learned that Qin Xijun had vanished years earlier and considered searching Yang Valley after hearing it was associated with the Phoenix Clan. He agreed to officiate at the Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice, while Qin Xijun prepared to sacrifice her Dao and asked the Phoenix to tell Song Yan she had been remarkable.

• Xiao He crept toward Song Yan’s courtyard, wondering who he wanted to marry, as Song Yan heard from Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen that Granny Qin had disappeared years ago.
• Li Qingfeng gave Song Yan the Lost Valley Spirit Branch, which still pointed east, and Song Yan wondered whether Qin Xijun might be in Yang Valley.
• Lingsi brought Song Yan a message from Ling Jia, and Song Yan agreed to visit the Heavenly Capital while Li Qingfeng and Cong Yuzhen planned to return to Chivalrous Heroes Island.
• Ling Jia asked Song Yan to officiate at the Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice and said that Yang Valley lay east of the Heavenly Capital, where Phoenix Clan members had sometimes appeared.
• At Yang Valley, Qin Xijun told the old Daoist she was ready to sacrifice her Dao and asked the Phoenix to tell Song Yan that she had been someone remarkable.

Qin Xijun’s attempt to restore the Great Sun Golden Crow’s True Nature was disrupted when the phantom arrow became a demonic shadow that darkened the sun, so the Wandering the Clouds Daoist offered to reunite her with Song Yan. In the Sea Kingdom’s Heavenly Capital, debate over Song Yan presiding at the Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice intensified, but Ling Jia refused to change his decision.

• Qin Xijun, aided by Phoenix and the Wandering the Clouds Daoist, flew toward the Great Sun Golden Crow and pulled the phantom arrow from its wound as part of her Dao offering.
• The arrow transformed into a Black Heavenly Dog that attacked the Golden Crow; the Wandering the Clouds Daoist struck it with Sword Qi, but it reformed and darkened the sun, forcing Qin Xijun and Phoenix to abandon the offering.
• Qin Xijun blamed her lingering regrets for the failure and admitted she wanted to see Song Yan, so the Wandering the Clouds Daoist told Phoenix to bring him to Yang Valley.
• As the Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice approached, the Diren Tribe named Song Yan to preside over the Heaven Sacrifice, provoking opposition among the Demon Race.
• Yin Yu joined fellow young demon cultivators in Heavenly Capital and brooded over losing his place beside Princess Lingsi, while they discussed Song Yan’s appointment.
• Ling Jia’s aide reported that demons viewed Great Sun Black Heaven as an omen, but Ling Jia refused to replace Song Yan and hoped the sacrifice would reveal the ancestors’ intentions.

Song Yan attended the Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice and frightened Qiong into performing the Qilin Sacrificial Dance with perfect precision. Watching the dance gave Song Yan insight into its ancient Daoist resonance, while Qiong remained terrified of him afterward.

• Song Yan cultivated at dawn with Xiao He, who hesitated to ask about their wedding night before running off.
• Song Yan attended the first day of the Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice with Lingsi and learned that Qiong was refusing to perform the next day's Sacrificial Dance.
• Lingsi brought Song Yan to Qiong's residence, where Song Yan's threatening presence made Qiong collapse in terror.
• Qiong performed the Ancestor Sacrifice dance with exact movements, and Song Yan used his Void-Viewing Sword Eye to study it.
• Qiong completed the ceremony without complaint, while Xiang Bo praised him and Song Yan watched nearby.

Song Yan completed the Sea Kingdom’s Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice, but the sea gave no response before a Phoenix Bird arrived and asked him to meet Qin Xijun. She carried Song Yan, Xiao He, and Idle-Fishing Boy east to Yang Valley, where the Sea Chart identified their destination as Song Yan wondered why Granny Qin had been brought there.

• Song Yan presided over the Heavenly Sea Grand Sacrifice, but it ended without a sign from the Heavenly Sea or Jianmu, disappointing the gathered demons.
• A Phoenix Bird arrived, asked for Song Yan, Xiao He, and Idle-Fishing Boy, and said that Xijun wished to see them.
• Ling Jia told the curious Yao Kings that he had known nothing of Song Yan’s connection to the Phoenix Bird and described him as his son-in-law.
• Idle-Fishing Boy noticed that his bronze Compass first pointed east and then turned toward Song Yan as the Phoenix Bird flew toward the Great Trench.
• Song Yan brought out the Sea Chart, which identified Yang Valley as their destination, while he worried about why Granny Qin had been taken there.

Song Yan learned that Qin Xijun carried the Golden Crow’s final True Nature, whose return would erase her, and that completing it could restore the sun and affect the Mortal World’s Spiritual Qi. Wandering the Clouds Daoist asked Song Yan to help confront an evil presence on the sun and revealed the sword Mystery, just as Song Yan’s sword intent surged.

• Phoenix brought Song Yan, Xiao He, and Idle-Fishing Boy to Yang Valley, where Xiao He reunited with Qin Xijun.
• Qin Xijun explained that she was the final incarnation carrying the Golden Crow’s remaining True Nature and would cease to exist if it returned to the sun.
• Wandering the Clouds Daoist explained that the incomplete Golden Crow True Nature was connected to declining Spiritual Qi and that he hoped its restoration would let him ascend through Jianmu.
• Wandering the Clouds Daoist revealed that the final attempt to restore the True Nature had failed and asked Song Yan to help defeat an evil thing on the sun.
• Wandering the Clouds Daoist summoned the flying sword Mystery, and Song Yan felt the sword intent within his residence surge.

Song Yan learned how Evil Karma formed and struggled with whether to help remove it if doing so meant Granny Qin would die. After Granny Qin urged him to go with them in seven days, the Idle-Fishing Boy tracked the Black-and-White Tree Cutting to a glowing valley and was warned not to eat its Great Sun Bodhi Fruits.

• Wandering the Clouds Daoist explained that Evil Karma arose from great evils such as mass slaughter, severing inheritances, and destroying heaven and earth, and said Song Yan could help investigate the matter in seven days.
• Song Yan worried that removing the Evil Karma in the sky would cost Granny Qin her life, while Qin Xijun teased him about Xiao He and urged him to accompany them in seven days.
• Qin Xijun reflected on Song Yan’s accomplishments and her own regrets, and Song Yan agreed to go.
• The Idle-Fishing Boy followed its Compass to a secluded valley filled with glowing fruits and was told that they were Great Sun Bodhi Fruits too dangerous for it to eat.

Idle-Fishing Boy explained how he acquired the divination disk, while Song Yan investigated unexplained changes after absorbing evil karma. Song Yan and Qin Xijun then approached the great sun, where Evil Karma forced the Black Heavenly Dog against the Golden Crow despite Wandering the Clouds Daoist's intervention.

• Wandering the Clouds Daoist let Idle-Fishing Boy inspect the forked branch in exchange for examining his divination disk.
• Idle-Fishing Boy recounted surviving his death in a spirit body, occupying a buried cat's corpse, and obtaining the disk from grave robbers.
• Idle-Fishing Boy revealed that the disk had guided him toward Song Yan and now also pointed toward the forked branch.
• Song Yan found no trace of the absorbed evil karma in the Infinite Treasury Realm but sensed faint vitality and changes in its previously divided regions.
• Wandering the Clouds Daoist protected Song Yan and Qin Xijun as they rode the Phoenix Bird toward the Great Sun Golden Crow.
• Wandering the Clouds Daoist pierced the Black Heavenly Dog with fresh Sword Light, but Evil Karma forced its head down and spread its Demonic Flame over the Golden Crow as the dog stared at Song Yan.

Song Yan and his allies fought the Black Hound and the hidden evil karma, while Qin Xijun gave her Golden Crow True Nature back to the Great Sun. After Qin Xijun vanished into the sun, Song Yan overcame his grief and awakened his Primordial Spirit.

• The Black Hound devoured the Golden Crow's light and the Phoenix Bird's demonic fire, then broke free and attacked the Phoenix Bird and Song Yan.
• Qin Xijun told Song Yan she could see the evil karma and asked him to help her; Song Yan defended the Phoenix Bird and formed the Traveling Heavenly Dao Sword Domain with Mystery.
• Song Yan and the Wandering the Clouds Daoist's Mystery exposed the evil karma, and Song Yan shattered Mystery to destroy its shadow.
• Qin Xijun returned her Golden Crow True Nature to the Great Sun, which awakened and destroyed the Black Hound's demonic body.
• Qin Xijun comforted Song Yan before disappearing into the sun, leaving a golden-red feather in his hand.
• Song Yan accepted Qin Xijun's death, awakened his Primordial Spirit, and absorbed the lingering resonance of the Great Sun and Yang Valley's Spiritual Qi.

Twenty-five years after Jianmu’s Spiritual Qi transformed the Sea Kingdom, Ling Jia dealt with disputes, lingering restrictions, and an attempted Dragon Tomb intrusion while Lingsi led an investigation. On Chivalrous Heroes Island, a mysterious Nascent Soul cultivator approached Li Qingfeng and revealed that he knew Li was searching for True Lord Swallowing Heaven.

• Ling Jia assigned the disputed island near the Wilderness of the Heavenly Capital to the Penglai Daoist Sect’s visitors and told the Black Tortoise Tribe and Tuolong Tribe to settle their claims.
• Ling Jia ordered Diren Tribe youths to study the damaged restrictions at Flowing Wave Mountain, which might take decades to restore naturally.
• Lingsi and the younger demons discussed the attempted intrusion into the Eastern Sea Dragon Tomb, and Lingsi proposed visiting Fenglin Island to warn King Yu about the Qilin Grand Tomb.
• Li Qingfeng emerged from seclusion on Chivalrous Heroes Island and met an unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivator who said he was looking for Li.
• The stranger asked Li Qingfeng whether he was searching for traces of True Lord Swallowing Heaven.