Chapter Summaries

Li Qingfeng agreed to help Dugu Zhang enter True Lord Swallowing Heaven's former cave abode and learned that rebellion and the Demon Ruins threatened Great Tang. Meanwhile, a young Daoist sought Lingsi as her investigation into attempted tomb intrusions pointed toward the Heluo Tribe and the Ruin Sea.

• Li Qingfeng agreed to open True Lord Swallowing Heaven's former cave abode to recover his remains and help Dugu Zhang search for Dugu Yin.
• Dugu Zhang said Yue Ting would accompany them instead of Sect Master Shen and promised to keep Li Qingfeng out of the fighting.
• Dugu Zhang revealed that An Lushan had rebelled and that the Demon Ruins had conquered three Northern Frontier kingdoms and much of the northern Eastern Wilderness Corridor.
• A young Daoist in Heavenly Capital read a notice about an attempted Dragon Tomb intrusion and decided to find Lingsi after the three-legged crow Xianxian returned from an unsuccessful search.
• King Yu told Lingsi, Zhang Chao, and Li Cheng that he had driven a suspicious intruder away from the Qilin Grand Tomb and identified the Heluo Tribe's concealment Divine Ability as the likely method.
• King Yu warned Lingsi that the intruder's condition was strange and said they had fled toward the Ruin Sea.

Lingsi and her companions reached Flowing Wave Mountain, where Li Qingfeng and two Nascent Soul cultivators were investigating the trail of the wanted fugitive Dugu Yin. As the group reunited, the Pearl of Separation Six Realms restriction suddenly awakened, trapping everyone and dragging them beneath the sea, where a mysterious figure addressed Yue Ting and another as his disciple and little brother.

• Lingsi, Huan, and the Wenyao female yao traveled toward Penglai and Fanghu while discussing why someone had targeted the Sea Kingdom Dragon Tomb and the Qilin Grand Tomb.
• Lingsi visited her former teacher Ling Jue at Flowing Wave Mountain, where Li Qingfeng and Yue Ting were seeking help tracking the injured fugitive Dugu Yin.
• Li Qingfeng asked Lingsi about Song Yan, but she began to explain before the restriction around Flowing Wave Mountain started glowing and the sea violently upheaved.
• Ling Jue recognized that the Pearl of Separation Six Realms restriction was reversing and ordered the Shi Human Race cultivators to flee, but a barrier trapped everyone in the area.
• The restriction suppressed the cultivators, and enormous tentacles dragged them beneath the sea, where Yue Ting saw golden sword eyes and heard a mysterious voice address him as its disciple and another as its little brother.

Dugu Yin revealed his avatars beneath the sea and attacked Yue Ting, Dugu Zhang, Ling Jue, Li Qingfeng, Lingsi, and the other demons as the Pearl of Separation Six Realms’ restrictions tightened. Song Yan appeared above the battlefield, reversed the sea and sky with his Sword Intent, and revealed his Nascent Soul cultivation, while Idle-Fishing Boy announced him as True Lord Ciyu.

• Dugu Yin revealed himself with his Heluo demon and other avatars, then declared he would refine Dugu Zhang and Yue Ting into avatars.
• Yue Ting and Dugu Zhang fought Dugu Yin, while Ling Jue battled the Calamity-Wreaking Sea Boy and Li Qingfeng and Lingsi fought Swallowing Heaven True Lord.
• The other demons struggled against the Ten-Body Heluo demon as the Pearl of Separation Six Realms’ restrictions grew heavier and the fighters began to falter.
• The Calamity-Wreaking Sea Boy wounded Ling Jue, and Swallowing Heaven True Lord swallowed Lingsi’s Water Prison Technique, leaving the defenders in increasing danger.
• Song Yan arrived above the sea, used his Sword Intent to reverse heaven and earth, and revealed that he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Idle-Fishing Boy appeared beside Song Yan and proclaimed him True Lord Ciyu, demanding that everyone surrender.

Song Yan arrived at Flowing Wave Mountain and turned the battle against Dugu Yin’s forces, revealing overwhelming power despite his youth. After his allies defeated the other incarnations, Song Yan broke Dugu Yin’s last desperate technique and condemned his poor understanding of the Sword Sect’s legacy.

• Song Yan severed the Calamitous Sea Boy’s head with Great Vow for All Under Heaven, and his sword’s Buddhist light prevented the ghost from reuniting.
• Dugu Yin attacked Song Yan with Black Prajna, but Song Yan’s finger strike dispelled the blow and left him unharmed.
• The crow burned the Ghost Qi from Lingjue’s wound, allowing Lingjue to seal the Calamitous Sea Boy.
• Lingsi’s allies overwhelmed the battlefield: Zhang Chao, Li Cheng, and the other Demon Race members slew the Ten-Body Heluo, while Li Qingfeng consumed the Hungry Ghost Path incarnation and refined its power.
• Dugu Yin burned his remaining cultivation to invoke the incarnation phantoms, but Song Yan used Primordial Chaos Undivided to dissolve the Divine Ability.
• Song Yan told Dugu Yin that he had shown no sword move or Sword Intent worthy of the Sword Sect’s Dao.

Song Yan, Yue Ting, and Dugu Zhang defeated Dugu Yin, who died after learning that Elder Mirage Dragon had never given him a Divine Ability. Afterward, Song Yan invited Yue Ting to return to the Sword Sect, and Yue Ting agreed to consider it before they planned to meet on Floating Jade Island in half a year.

• Song Yan and Yue Ting broke Dugu Yin’s protective Sword Qi, and Dugu Zhang killed him with a single saber strike.
• Dugu Yin accused Elder Mirage Dragon of taking back a Divine Ability, but Song Yan explained that Mirage had only let him experience a dream whose cultivation insights remained with him.
• Dugu Yin died after realizing he had cultivated his achievements himself, and Dugu Zhang collected his remains to take back to the imperial court.
• Song Yan and the others escaped the Pearl of Separation Six Realms restriction, reunited with Xiao He and the Shi Human Race cultivators, and returned to the sea.
• Yue Ting said he planned to remain in the Eastern Sea, but Song Yan invited him to return to the Sword Sect, where Yue Ting could become its Eldest Senior Brother.
• Song Yan left to take care of matters in the Sea Kingdom and arranged to meet Yue Ting on Floating Jade Island in half a year.

Dugu Yin recounted how his father’s death and the court’s neglect shaped his life, leading him from a lonely shopkeeper to a Sword Sect successor under Elder Wei. After Mirage tested him with a question about what he would do to protect Dugu Zhang, Dugu Yin woke from a three-day dream and set out for the Eastern Sea, leaving the question unanswered.

• Dugu Xing’s death and Lady Xie’s later death left Dugu Yin and Dugu Zhang to survive alone, and Dugu Zhang joined the Hidden Dragon Secret Bureau while Dugu Yin traveled to Xiangyang to run a shop.
• Dugu Yin met Elder Wei, gave him Dugu Xin’s Many-Sided Seal, and learned part of the Sword Sect’s legacy before Elder Wei died and instructed him to seek the sect in Ningyue.
• Dugu Yin killed the wounded Eastern Sea fugitive and Earth Character Thirty-Seven, then hid in Sword Enlightenment Valley for another hundred years.
• Mirage asked Dugu Yin what he would do if an overwhelmingly powerful enemy planned to kill Dugu Zhang, and promised him an opportunity despite refusing to admit him to the Sword Sect.
• After dreaming for three days, Dugu Yin awoke unable to recall the dream and chose to travel to the Eastern Sea rather than seek the Sword Sect in Ningyue.

Song Yan reflected on his Nascent Soul breakthrough, Xianxian’s transformation into a three-legged crow, and his plans to leave the Sea Kingdom with Lingsi. At Ye City, Li Yi learned that rebels and the Demon Ruins were converging on Master Xu’s sword-forging site and vowed to keep the weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

• Song Yan set aside Dugu Yin’s Life-Bound Flying Sword, Black Prajna, and reviewed how he had formed his Nascent Soul in Yang Valley with the help of Great Sun Bodhi Fruit.
• Song Yan recalled that Sword Spirit Xianxian had gained its own Primordial Spirit and transformed into a three-legged crow after absorbing a Nirvana Phoenix Feather and the Kunwu Remnant Flame.
• Song Yan decided to wait for Lingsi before leaving the Sea Kingdom and considered cultivating a second Pupil Technique despite the risk of losing his sight.
• At the Immortal Dao Alliance’s encampment near Ye Abyss, Li Yi learned from Guo Huai that An Lushan’s forces and the Demon Ruins were moving toward Ye City as Master Xu neared completion of a sword that might become a rare Spirit Treasure.
• Guo Huai reported that the Mohist School, Jun Mountain, and the Taiyi Sect were sending aid, including three Jun Mountain Nascent Soul cultivators and Ju Luyi; Li Yi vowed that the sword would not fall into anyone else’s hands.

Song Yan reunited with Yue Ting and the Luchuan Association, and they prepared to travel from the Eastern Sea to the Chu Kingdom by way of Teleportation Formations. In Ye City, Xiao Ju arrived to join Ruan Zhi and await Master Xu’s final sword-forging, which would begin when thunder resounded through the nine heavens.

• Ling Jia sent Lingsi off with Song Yan, giving her a Jade Slip and asking her to visit the elders of Between Mountains and Seas on the Sea Kingdom’s behalf.
• Song Yan and his companions traveled across Fanghu and the Star Dark Sea, retrieved belongings from Chivalrous Heroes Island, and passed the closed Worry-Relief Pavilion before reaching Floating Jade Island.
• Song Yan met Yue Ting and the Luchuan Association aboard the Great Mirage Tower, and Yue Ting agreed to join the Sword Sect with his companions.
• Song Yan explained that Dugu Yin’s records contained routes through Teleportation Formations that would speed their journey to the Chu Kingdom, and the group prepared to depart.
• Xiao Ju arrived at the Immortal Dao Alliance’s base in Ye City and went to meet Ruan Zhi, who told her Master Xu was waiting on Pan Mountain for the celestial sign to begin the final forging.
• Ruan Zhi said Master Xu would start forging the sword when thunder resounded through the nine heavens, while he waited on Pan Mountain’s summit.

Song Yan learned that the struggle over the Divine Weapon in Ye City had become a crucial test of morale amid An Lushan’s rebellion, and he decided to join the gathering. As Song Yan traveled toward Ye City, An Lushan welcomed Pang Ming, an envoy from the Yellow Springs Way, and declared that his son A Nizong would claim the sword.

• In the Nuo Realm, Wang Ke explained that An Lushan’s rebels and the Demon Ruins were advancing, making the Ye City conflict strategically important to the Immortal Dao Alliance.
• Song Yan appeared in the Nuo Realm after decades away, learned about Ye City, and said he would attend; Tang Hulu, Su Xueming, Boqi, Cuoduan, and others also committed to going.
• Song Yan told Yue Ting he had to leave the Sword Sect, while Yue Ting chose to remain in the Chu Kingdom with the Luchuan Association and help maintain the sect.
• Song Yan took Xiao He, Idle-Fishing, and Lingsi through the Teleportation Formation toward Fanyang, noticing that it had recently been used.
• At An Lushan’s camp, Ashina Zuwu introduced Pang Ming, an envoy from the Yellow Springs Way, and An Lushan promised him the Divine Weapon if A Nizong seized it.
• An Lushan boasted that his son would claim the sword, declaring that his own name meant an ancient god of war among the Northern Frontier Turks.

A Nizong brought rebel forces to Ye City to seize a Divine Weapon and abduct the swordsmith Xu Dongsheng, while the Immortal Dao Alliance and Great Tang prepared to oppose him. Li Xuan arrived with Gao Xianzhi to lead the Tang side, and the rivals agreed to wait for the Divine Weapon to emerge as the chapter ended with several days of calm weather expected before any thunder and lightning.

• A Nizong and his strategist Mister Tusu sailed toward Pan Mountain, and A Nizong declared that he would take the Divine Weapon and force Xu Dongsheng to forge weapons for the rebel army.
• The Immortal Dao Alliance learned that A Nizong had arrived with four Martial Immortals, and Chu Rang led the alliance's cultivators to confront them alongside Heaven's Deputy Office soldiers.
• A Nizong defended An Lushan's rebellion, while Chu Rang and Liu Tianfang accused the rebels of treason and collusion with the Demon Ruins.
• Li Xuan arrived at Pan Mountain, and Gao Xianzhi blocked A Nizong's Spirit Transformation attack before Cui Ruyou appeared to face him.
• A Nizong withdrew and proposed waiting for the Divine Weapon to emerge, while Li Xuan entered the garrison and explained that he had come to prevent the weapon from reaching the rebels or Devil Cultivators.
• Li Xuan said the Imperial Astronomical Bureau predicted several days without wind or rain, meaning they would have to wait for real lightning and thunder.

Xu Dongsheng forged a mid-grade Spirit Treasure on Pan Mountain, triggering a battle among the four powers as they fought to claim it. He tried to temper the sword further, but Ye Abyss's Earth Fire proved insufficient, and the sword's presence began to fade just as a crow called out nearby.

• Zhao Xieyang, Shi Yunhao, and Ku Qian discussed the forces gathering to seize Xu Dongsheng's sword and the uncertainty surrounding Song Yan.
• Xu Dongsheng summoned lightning and Earth Fire to forge the sword for seven days, while cultivators from the four powers watched.
• After the sword emerged as a mid-grade Spirit Treasure, A Nizong tried to take it, but Li Xuan blocked him and they began fighting as the four factions joined battle.
• Zhao Xieyang and Shi Yunhao arrived with Demon Ruins cultivators, intensifying the struggle, while Chu Rang fought Mister Tusu and other cultivators clashed below the summit.
• Xu Dongsheng attempted to raise the sword's grade using Earth Fire, but the fire could not sustain the tempering and the sword's presence began to weaken.
• As Xu Dongsheng despaired over the failing forge, he heard a crow cawing despite the battle raging around Pan Mountain.