Chapter Summaries

Xuanyuan Shun welcomed Liu Ziru’s intelligence and considered building ties with the Dark Domain, then the Xuanyuan Clan slaughtered Listening Wind Pavilion spies who had been watching Liu Ziru. Elsewhere, Nan Tingfeng learned that preparations could begin and dismissed the Dark Domain as an insignificant rival.

• Xuanyuan Shun accepted Liu Ziru’s intelligence for half the Listening Wind Pavilion’s price and offered to help the Dark Domain oppose it, though Liu Ziru did not agree.
• Liu Ziru warned Xuanyuan Shun about surveillance and escaped the Xuanyuan Clan’s gates with a Heavenly Lightning Escape Talisman.
• The Xuanyuan Clan’s elders confronted Listening Wind Pavilion members who had been watching Liu Ziru, and the second elder killed dozens with a single sword strike.
• The nine elders trapped and killed the remaining Listening Wind Pavilion members, leaving over a hundred bodies outside the gates.
• Nan Tingfeng received a message at the South Wind Divine Dynasty’s imperial court and ordered preparations to begin, calling the Dark Domain a petty force.

Ye Qiubai waited in a prepared ambush as the Xuanyuan Clan arrived to seize the inheritance and his Sword Bone. Xuanyuan Junru challenged him, and Ye Qiubai drew his sword as the confrontation began.

• Mu Fusheng repeatedly checked and reinforced the talismans and formations around Ye Qiubai, while Liu Ziru reminded everyone of their plan.
• Ye Qiubai stayed behind to pretend to cultivate while Liu Ziru and the others left the area, monitoring him with Mu Fusheng's surveillance talismans.
• The Xuanyuan Clan's first elder, second elder, Xuanyuan Junru, and others found Ye Qiubai and surrounded him while he appeared to be on the verge of a breakthrough.
• Xuanyuan Junru demanded Ye Qiubai's inheritance and Sword Bone, and the Jade Rosy Clouds Sect's Xu Yi arrived but refused to intervene.
• Ye Qiubai drew the Cloud Azure Sword and challenged Xuanyuan Junru to take the inheritance and Sword Bone by his own strength.

Ye Qiubai revealed complete Sword Dao Rules and overwhelmed Xuanyuan Junru during their duel. As the First Elder intervened to save Junru and attack Ye Qiubai, the confrontation escalated.

• Xuanyuan Junru ignored the First Elder’s warning and unleashed two powerful slashes at Ye Qiubai.
• Ye Qiubai revealed that he had survived two lightning tribulations and wielded complete Sword Dao Rules, shattering Junru’s cross-shaped attack.
• Ye Qiubai created a Sword Domain that suppressed Junru and the Xuanyuan Clan elders, then formed swords from Sword Dao Rules to attack Junru.
• The First Elder swept Ye Qiubai’s summoned swords away from Junru with a river of swords, then sent the river surging toward Ye Qiubai.

After revealing his breakthrough to Sword Dao Rules, Ye Qiubai faced the Xuanyuan Clan First Elder, but Mu Fusheng activated a vast lightning escape array and helped him vanish. The First Elder then persuaded Xu Yi to use the Jade Rosy Clouds Sect to search for Ye Qiubai.

• The Xuanyuan Clan First Elder intensified his attack, determined to kill Ye Qiubai before his talent could become a threat.
• Ye Qiubai replaced the Cloud Azure Sword with the ancient Azure Cloud Sword, intending to test it against the First Elder.
• Mu Fusheng activated layers of lightning barriers and a Heavenly Lightning Escape Talisman Grand Array around Ye Qiubai.
• The Xuanyuan Clan and Jade Rosy Clouds Sect attacked the barriers, but Ye Qiubai escaped in a flash of lightning before they could break through them all.
• The First Elder demanded that Xu Yi help search Jade Rosy Clouds Ridge and offered to help him return to the Xu Clan's main line.
• Xu Yi accepted the offer and ordered the Jade Rosy Clouds Sect to search for Ye Qiubai while the Xuanyuan Clan searched nearby areas.

Ye Qiubai and his companions escaped the Jade Rosy Clouds Sect, while Liu Ziru explained how the Dark Domain had benefited from the top factions’ support and revealed the Xu Clan’s ties to the sect. The Seven Treasures Holy Sect retaliated by targeting the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty and ending its marriage alliance with Jiu Bailu.

• Mu Fusheng revealed that he had remotely activated the Heavenly Lightning Escape Talismans because he expected Ye Qiubai to rush into battle, and Ye Qiubai and Xiao Hei threatened to test their strength on him.
• Jiu Bailu defended Mu Fusheng, and he jokingly promised to assert his authority as her husband while she accepted his challenge.
• Liu Ziru explained that the Dark Domain could suppress the Listening Wind Pavilion but should not destroy it, since that could make the Dark Domain a new target of resentment among the top factions.
• Liu Ziru revealed that the Jade Rosy Clouds Sect was a subordinate faction of the Xu Clan, then gave Xu Yeming a scroll recording an exchange between the Xuanyuan Clan’s grand elder and Xu Yi.
• The Seven Treasures Holy Sect’s sect master ordered an attack on the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty and ended the marriage alliance with Jiu Bailu.

After Jiu Bailu rejected the Seven Treasures Holy Sect’s marriage proposal, the sect backed the Black Tortoise and South Wind Divine Dynasties in a war against the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty. Mu Fusheng and his companions decided to seek help from the Four Great Beast Clans while avoiding a direct confrontation.

• The Black Tortoise Divine Dynasty accepted the Seven Treasures Holy Sect’s offer to provide resources for an attack on the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty.
• The South Wind ruler consulted Nan Tingfeng, who revealed that the war would help conceal his plans and told the ruler to accept and request more resources.
• The Black Tortoise and South Wind Divine Dynasties declared war, seized territory, and forced the Mo Clan and Chaotic Spirit Academy to send aid to the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty.
• Mu Fusheng warned Xiao Hei that appearing in the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty could draw the Seven Treasures Holy Sect into a more dangerous conflict, while Liu Ziru expanded the Dark Domain’s intelligence network.
• Xu Yeming suggested seeking aid from the Four Great Beast Clans, and Mu Fusheng agreed that their support could deter the Seven Treasures Holy Sect and other factions.

After Xu Yeming asked Xiangliu to summon the Four Great Beast Clans, their elders arrived at Nine Dragons City while it was under attack and intervened against the invading armies. The White Tiger Ancestor revealed the clans’ support for the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty and killed two Seven Treasures Holy Sect elders, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Xiangliu informed the Four Great Beast Clans of Xu Yeming’s message, and their elders arrived at Nine Dragons City two days later.
• The White Tiger Ancestor explained that he had come personally to gain favor with the person behind the arrangement and appeared above the city walls.
• The White Tiger Ancestor detected Seven Treasures Holy Sect experts among the invading forces and released his Domain Divine Realm pressure, stopping the fighting.
• The White Tiger Ancestor and the elders of the Qilin, Bifang, and Qiongqi Clans declared their clans’ ties to the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty, astonishing the Nine Dragons Sovereign and his allies.
• Two Seven Treasures Holy Sect elders demanded that the White Tiger Ancestor stay out of the conflict, but he dismissed their claim to respect and killed them with a punch.

The Four Great Beast Clans intervened to protect the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty, forcing the Seven Treasures Holy Sect and its allies to retreat. The Seven Treasures Holy Sect accepted that it could not retaliate directly and turned to the Dark Domain for information about the clans and their connection to the dynasty.

• The White Tiger Ancestor killed two Seven Treasures Holy Sect elders, and the South Wind and Black Tortoise Divine Dynasties ordered their forces to retreat.
• The White Tiger Ancestor and the other beast-clan elders joined the Nine Dragons Sovereign at a banquet, where Jiu Xuan suspected Mu Fusheng and his companions had called in the reinforcements.
• The Seven Treasures Holy Sect's survivors reported the defeat, and its sect master decided to stop fighting the Four Great Beast Clans.
• The sect master ordered an investigation into the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty's ties to the clans and instructed the elders to buy the Dark Domain's recent intelligence on the Devil Beast Continent.
• Liu Ziru relayed the Seven Treasures Holy Sect's request to Xu Yeming and the others, leaving them silent.

The group used the Dark Domain’s intelligence to make the Seven Treasures Holy Sect believe Jiu Bailu was connected to the Four Great Beast Clans, preventing it from pressuring the Nine Dragons Divine Dynasty into a marriage alliance. As Ji Yang entered the dangerous Seven Treasures Death Realm, the group found a lead in rumors that Xu Clan and Xuanyuan Clan descendants had studied at Cangxuan Academy and planned to investigate there.

• Mu Fusheng proposed presenting Jiu Bailu as connected to the Four Great Beast Clans, and Xu Yeming arranged for the clans to support the false intelligence.
• The Seven Treasures Holy Sect learned of Jiu Bailu’s supposed ties to the clans, and its sect master told Ji Yang he could pursue her only on his own.
• Ji Yang chose to enter the Seven Treasures Death Realm, despite the grand elder’s warning about its danger.
• The Dark Domain found no solid information about the Xu Clan and Xuanyuan Clan’s past hunt for Xu Canghai, but Mu Fusheng spotted a rumor linking their descendants to Cangxuan Academy.
• Ye Qiubai proposed that Xu Yeming and he visit Cangxuan Academy as exchange representatives from Azure Firmament Academy.

Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming arrived at Cangxuan Academy for an exchange, where the headmaster explained why he had agreed to host students from Azure Firmament Academy. As Cangxuan students openly scorned the visitors, Xu Yeming reminded them that Azure Firmament Academy had defeated Cangxuan and taken first place in the Six Realms Academy Exchange.

• The Cangxuan Academy headmaster defended his decision to host Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming, citing Azure Firmament Academy's victory and the Mortal Realm's rising fortune.
• The Third Elder announced that Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming had arrived, and the First and Fourth Elders both volunteered to receive them.
• Cangxuan Academy's inner court students mocked Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming for coming from Azure Firmament Academy.
• Ye Qiubai told Xu Yeming not to mind the students' sharp tongues, but Xu Yeming replied that their academy had been defeated by the people they called barbarians.
• Xu Yeming's retort stunned Ye Qiubai and angered the surrounding students.

Xu Yeming and Ye Qiubai faced the anger of Cangxuan Academy’s inner court students after Xu Yeming answered their insults with sharp arguments. The First Elder intervened and sent the Fourth Elder to arrange their accommodations, while the Fourth Elder watched Xu Yeming with hostility.

• Yang Huan emerged from seclusion and claimed Cangxuan Academy would have won if she had taken part, but Xu Yeming challenged her reasoning and questioned her claims about the God Ascension Ruins.
• Yang Huan proposed a spar, but Xu Yeming refused and warned her that attacking exchange guests would damage Cangxuan Academy’s reputation.
• The Fourth Elder rebuked Yang Huan while implying that Azure Firmament Academy was weak and should accept Cangxuan Academy’s tolerance.
• Xu Yeming turned the Fourth Elder’s remarks against him by saying Azure Firmament Academy had shown the tolerance of an ocean that embraces a hundred rivers.
• The First Elder dismissed the angry students and ordered the Fourth Elder to take Xu Yeming and Ye Qiubai to their accommodations; the Fourth Elder watched Xu Yeming with a venomous stare.

Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming investigated Cangxuan Academy’s possible connection to Xu Canghai’s past while the Fourth Elder arranged to test Xu Yeming and alert the Xuanyuan Clan. After three days of being ignored, the pair were approached by Xuanyuan Che, who offered to show them around.

• Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming suspected the Fourth Elder had recognized Xu Yeming’s connection to Xu Canghai and decided to wait rather than investigate him openly.
• Rumors that Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming had insulted Cangxuan Academy spread, prompting students to condemn them and discuss challenging them.
• Ding Xuan recognized Ye Qiubai’s name but chose not to intervene, believing someone else would act.
• The Fourth Elder told Yang Huan to spar with Xu Yeming and make him reveal his full strength, then arranged for the Xuanyuan Clan to learn of Ye Qiubai’s arrival.
• The First Elder recalled Xu Canghai’s return and resolved to protect Xu Yeming if his identity was confirmed.
• After three days without a guide, Xuanyuan Che arrived and offered to show Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming around Cangxuan Academy.

Xuanyuan Che, ranked fourth on the Cangxuan Ranking, led Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming on a tour of Cangxuan Academy while warning Ye Qiubai that the Xuanyuan Clan planned to seize him. The three visited an inner court sword lesson, where Ye Qiubai and Xuanyuan Che dismissed the instructor’s technique.

• Xuanyuan Che confronted Ye Qiubai at the courtyard gate and said the Xuanyuan Clan was searching for him.
• Xuanyuan Che admitted that the Xuanyuan Clan wanted Ye Qiubai gone and said it might demand that Cangxuan Academy hand him over.
• Xuanyuan Che proposed a spar, but Ye Qiubai refused because winning or losing would not change the Xuanyuan Clan’s intentions.
• Xuanyuan Che led Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming around Cangxuan Academy, where they observed its cultivation grounds and frequent sparring.
• Xuanyuan Che and Ye Qiubai entered an inner court sword lesson and watched the instructor demonstrate the first form of Cangxuan Swordsmanship.
• Xuanyuan Che and Ye Qiubai said the demonstrated technique was unimpressive, offending the instructor and students.

Ye Qiubai faced Yao Zhun’s challenge after criticizing the Cangxuan Sword Technique, then quickly reproduced and improved the technique before the Cangxuan Academy students. He left Yao Zhun and the onlookers stunned by piercing the boulder with his revised strike.

• The students blamed Ye Qiubai for insulting Yao Zhun’s sword technique while Xuanyuan Che watched to see how he would respond.
• Yao Zhun challenged Ye Qiubai to demonstrate the Cangxuan Sword Technique and questioned whether Azure Firmament Academy deserved its first-place reputation.
• Ye Qiubai accepted the challenge, studied Yao Zhun’s first form, and drew mockery as he stood motionless for half a cup of tea.
• Ye Qiubai performed the first form, striking the boulder with ten thousand points of cold light and silencing the students.
• Ye Qiubai called the technique flashy, adjusted his strike so the cold light gathered back into his sword, and pierced the boulder.

After Ye Qiubai demonstrated an improved Cangxuan Sword Technique, Xuanyuan Che challenged him to spar without suppressing his cultivation. Ye Qiubai revealed Sword Dao Rules, leaving the onlookers stunned, while Xuanyuan Che admitted his fear and discussed the inheritance and the Xuanyuan Clan before insisting on the fight.

• Ye Qiubai improved the Cangxuan Sword Technique and pierced a boulder, silencing the people who had mocked him.
• Xuanyuan Che approached Ye Qiubai and challenged him to a spar, saying he would use his fifth-level lightning tribulation cultivation.
• Ye Qiubai agreed and revealed that he had reached the Sword Dao Rules Realm, shocking the students and Xuanyuan Che.
• Xuanyuan Che admitted he feared Ye Qiubai's talent and said he would not fight him for the Azure Cloud Sword Master's inheritance if Ye Qiubai obtained it.
• Ye Qiubai said he would not pursue matters with the Xuanyuan Clan if Xuanyuan Che persuaded them, though he would only befriend Xuanyuan Che personally.
• Xuanyuan Che said he would try to persuade his clan but still wanted to fight Ye Qiubai to experience the Sword Dao Rules Realm.

Ye Qiubai and Xuanyuan Che fought to a draw, each suffering a grave wound after trading their strongest sword strikes. The spectators were left wondering how the fight might have ended if their cultivation realms had been equal.

• Xuanyuan Che and Ye Qiubai acknowledged each other's swordsmanship before releasing their full presences, which clashed evenly despite their difference in cultivation.
• Xuanyuan Che attacked with a sword strike that sealed off Ye Qiubai's escape routes, while Ye Qiubai spread his Sword Domain and prepared to meet him head-on.
• Ye Qiubai unleashed the sixth sword of the Primordial Sword Scripture, Ashen Fire, Three Origins Transforming into Purity Sword, sending three slashes toward Xuanyuan Che.
• Neither fighter backed down, and their attacks passed through each other as they exchanged positions.
• Xuanyuan Che and Ye Qiubai both collapsed with severe wounds, leaving the students to suspect Ye Qiubai was the stronger fighter.

Xuanyuan Che urged the Xuanyuan Clan to befriend Ye Qiubai, but its grand elder insisted they needed the Azure Cloud Sword Master's inheritance and Ye Qiubai’s Sword Bone, making him an enemy to eliminate. After news of Ye Qiubai’s victory spread through the academy, Cangxuan Academy’s grand elder visited Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming and warned them to beware of the third elder.

• Xuanyuan Che told the Xuanyuan Clan’s grand elder that he had met Ye Qiubai and argued that the clan should befriend him instead of making an enemy of his talent.
• The grand elder rejected Xuanyuan Che’s proposal, saying the Xuanyuan Clan needed the Azure Cloud Sword Master’s inheritance and Ye Qiubai’s Sword Bone, and ordered that Ye Qiubai be killed before he grew stronger.
• News spread through the academy that Ye Qiubai had defeated Xuanyuan Che and entered the Sword Dao Rules Realm, prompting the students who had challenged him to leave him alone.
• Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming sensed someone inside their courtyard and prepared for a possible fight before Cangxuan Academy’s grand elder invited them in.
• Cangxuan Academy’s grand elder told Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming to conceal their identities and avoid showing too much of their strength, offered to protect them, and warned them to beware of the third elder.

Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming suspected the Xu Clan might be closing in on Xu Yeming’s identity, but the clan had shown no unusual activity. The Fourth Elder invited them to the Blood Assessment Hall to test Xu Yeming’s bloodline, and Xu Yeming agreed, trusting that his preparations would hide his identity.

• Ye Qiubai contacted Liu Ziru, who reported that Mu Fusheng and Jiu Bailu had planted informants in the Xu Clan but found no unusual activity.
• Ye Qiubai warned Xu Yeming to create a false identity, and Xu Yeming took out a voice transmission jade pendant.
• The Fourth Elder summoned Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming to his residence and asked about their plans at Cangxuan Academy.
• The Fourth Elder invited them to the Blood Assessment Hall, explaining that it tested students’ bloodlines and guided their cultivation.
• Xu Yeming readily agreed to the test, and he told Ye Qiubai that the Great Wilderness Scripture and his master's alterations should conceal his bloodline.

Xu Yeming underwent a bloodline assessment at Cangxuan Academy, revealing a pure Qilin Bloodline and shocking the Fourth Elder. As the Fourth Elder questioned how Xu Yeming had joined an academy from the Mortal Realm, the Qilin Clan arrived.

• The First Elder tried to stop Xu Yeming from using the Blood Assessment Hall, but Xu Yeming insisted and the Fourth Elder allowed the assessment.
• Xu Yeming smeared a drop of essence blood on the stone pillar, and its fierce roar caused several students to spit blood.
• The pillar revealed a pure Qilin Bloodline, leaving the First Elder relieved and the Fourth Elder shouting in disbelief.
• The Fourth Elder demanded to know how Xu Yeming had joined Azure Firmament Academy and whether the Qilin Clan had allowed it.
• Xu Yeming said the Qilin Clan should have arrived, and a voice outside announced the clan's visit.

After Xu Yeming’s blood assessment revealed his Qilin Bloodline, Qi Wu arrived at Cangxuan Academy and declared him the Qilin Clan’s Qilin Son. Xu Yeming refused to return with the clan, and the headmaster summoned him and Ye Qiubai the next day.

• Xu Yeming’s many absorbed bloodlines explained how he could reveal the Qilin Bloodline during the assessment.
• Qi Wu arrived at Cangxuan Academy with Prince Scarlet Flame and Prince Yang Flame shortly after Xu Yeming’s assessment.
• Qi Wu identified Xu Yeming as the Qilin Clan’s Qilin Son and warned that the clan would support him if anyone bullied him.
• Xu Yeming declined to return to the Qilin Clan, and Qi Wu arranged for the group to stay near Xu Yeming and Ye Qiubai’s courtyard.
• The headmaster summoned Ye Qiubai and Xu Yeming the following day.