Chapter Summaries

Xu Long and his companions assembled the five keys, opened the formation, and obtained a World Core fragment as the surrounding spiritual energy surged. When the Cyclopses attacked to take it, Xu Long and the others killed them all, leaving the fragment in their possession.

• The Red Queen defeated Kong and drove the lizard monsters away, securing the crystal-energy battle axe and the lizard monster's horn.
• Xu Long placed all five keys into the formation, which released a World Core fragment and greatly increased the spiritual energy around them.
• Xu Long broke through to the Late Innate realm and received a Main God quest to protect the fragment for thirty minutes.
• The Cyclopses, led by the old Cyclops, demanded that Xu Long hand over the fragment and attacked.
• Xu Long, Wei Qing, Feng Qingyang, and their companions fought back and slaughtered every Cyclops, leaving only Kong and a few giant lizards alive in Hollow Earth.

After the Main World absorbed a World Core fragment, its energy level rose and Xu Long prepared for a dangerous new quest. He chose to enter The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber as Zhang Wuji, tasked with killing a Golden Core Stage expert.

• Xu Long and the others completed the quest to protect the World Core fragment, and its fusion raised the world's cultivation limit to the Golden Core Stage.
• The increased spiritual energy accelerated cultivation, while the Yanhuang Divine Kingdom crushed a rebellion led by the Rice Country and its allies.
• Xu Long entered a Golden Core Stage wuxia quest whose main objective was to kill a Golden Core Stage expert.
• Xu Long weighed the available identities and spent twenty authority points to become Zhang Wuji.
• The Main God concealed Xu Long's identity change, and he began the quest without Zhang Wuji's Xuanming True Qi injuries.

Xu Long planned to use genetically engineered rats and bats to poison the Fireworker Monk while hiding his abilities on Mount Wudang. He continued to endure Song Qingshu’s harassment and wait for an opportunity to act.

• Zhang Sanfeng lamented that Zhang Wuji could not practice martial arts because the Xuanming True Qi destroyed his internal force, and promised to dispel it within ten years.
• Xu Long decided to target the Fireworker Monk, who had learned the Nine Yang Divine Skill and survived a fight with Zhang Sanfeng.
• Xu Long had the Red Queen create aggressive, fast-breeding rats and bats whose meat carried an addictive toxin and traces of his Extreme Yang, Absolute Yin power.
• Xu Long spent his days watching Wudang disciples train and wandering around Mount Wudang while Song Qingshu repeatedly mocked and insulted him.
• Xu Long leaned against a pillar outside the Zhenwu Hall and dozed, reflecting on how ignorance made Song Qingshu happy.

Xu Long met Zhou Zhiruo on Mount Wudang and saw through her innocent-looking act as she pursued a connection with Song Qingshu. That night, Xu Long noticed a furtive group near Zhou Zhiruo’s room and recognized a scheme involving her and Song Qingshu.

• Xu Long lounged outside the Great Hall of Zhenwu with Rice Bucket when Zhou Zhiruo approached and asked why he was sleeping there.
• Xu Long told Zhou Zhiruo he was Zhang Sanfeng’s grand-disciple, but Song Qingshu arrived and belittled him as sickly and unable to practice martial arts.
• Zhou Zhiruo introduced herself as Miejue’s disciple and shifted her attention to Song Qingshu, who offered to guide her around Mount Wudang.
• Xu Long released thousands of rats and bats below the cliff, where the Fireworker Monk had been left with no other food, then headed back with Rice Bucket.
• Xu Long passed Zhou Zhiruo’s room and spotted a furtive group, recognizing the scheme Zhou Zhiruo and Song Qingshu had arranged to lure him into a compromising situation.

Xu Long exploited Song Qingshu’s plot against Zhang Wuji as cover to enter Zhou Zhiruo’s room and seduce her with his extreme yang severed yin body. Zhou Zhiruo woke the next morning realizing she had spent the night with an unidentified man, while Xu Long’s identity remained unknown to her.

• Song Qingshu planned to ruin Zhang Wuji and ordered his followers to wait for a chance to deal with him while the Wudang elders were in seclusion.
• Zhou Zhiruo protested Song Qingshu’s treatment of Zhang Wuji, then dismissed Song as a toad after he left her room.
• Xu Long, disguised and unnoticed, confronted Zhou Zhiruo and overcame her attempt to threaten him with the Heavenly Sword.
• Xu Long’s extreme yang severed yin body overwhelmed Zhou Zhiruo, and she spent the night with him.
• Zhou Zhiruo woke the next morning, saw evidence that she had lost her virginity, and wondered who the unknown man had been.

Zhou Zhiruo wondered whether another powerful expert was hiding on Mount Wudang, while Xu Long and Rice Bucket roasted a sheep in the back mountain. She joined them for meat and asked Xu Long about Wudang’s experts, but Song Qingshu arrived and angrily confronted them.

• Zhou Zhiruo hid the bedsheet from the previous night before answering Song Qingshu’s knock.
• Song Qingshu tried to catch Rice Bucket after seeing him carry a sheep, but the dog evaded him and ran to the back mountain.
• Zhou Zhiruo excused herself from Song Qingshu and secretly went to the back mountain, where Xu Long was preparing the sheep Rice Bucket had brought.
• Zhou Zhiruo asked Xu Long whether Wudang had any experts besides Zhang Sanfeng and the Seven Heroes, and Xu Long named Song Qingshu as its strongest third-generation disciple.
• Zhou Zhiruo tasted the roasted mutton, but Song Qingshu arrived and shouted at them for killing and roasting an animal on Mount Wudang.

Song Qingshu attacked Xu Long after finding him with Zhou Zhiruo, but Zhou intervened and Xu Long fell over a cliff. After Zhou wounded him and fled, Song tried to frame her as a Demon Cult demoness, only to find her room empty.

• Song Qingshu found Zhou Zhiruo eating roast mutton with Xu Long and attacked Xu Long with his sword.
• Zhou Zhiruo tried to stop Song Qingshu, but his blow struck Xu Long and sent him over the cliff; Rice Bucket leaped after him.
• Song Qingshu insulted Zhou Zhiruo, and she wounded his shoulder with the Heavenly Sword before he begged for mercy and fled.
• Zhou Zhiruo gathered her things and left for Mount Emei, planning to ruin Song Qingshu's reputation.
• Song Qingshu accused Zhou Zhiruo of being a Demon Cult demoness and led disciples to her room, but found it empty.

Xu Long used the poison in Fireworker Monk’s body and the disappearance of all his food to try to force him to surrender the Nine Yang Divine Skill. After three days of starvation, Fireworker Monk received a rat but rejected the bargain and attacked Xu Long.

• Xu Long landed in the canyon with Rice Bucket and saw that Zhang Sanfeng’s injury had left Fireworker Monk weakened and unable to heal.
• Xu Long made every rat and bat Fireworker Monk could sense vanish, then escaped with Rice Bucket using Instant Transmission.
• Xu Long waited three days while Fireworker Monk searched desperately for food and suffered from hunger and itching.
• Xu Long dropped a rat to Fireworker Monk and offered to cure his poison in exchange for the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
• Fireworker Monk refused and sent a dozen vines at Xu Long, intending to capture him.

Xu Long forced the Fireworker Monk to transfer the Nine Yang Divine Skill's True Qi to Rice Bucket, then left him to die among poisonous rats. At Zhenwu Hall, Song Qingshu accused Zhou Zhiruo of attacking him, but his insults toward Zhang Wuji enraged Song Yuanqiao.

• Xu Long gave the Fireworker Monk rat and bat meat in exchange for the Nine Yang Divine Skill's mnemonic, then made him transfer all nine levels of True Qi to Rice Bucket.
• Rice Bucket endured the transfer, broke through to S-rank, and returned to licking Xu Long's hand.
• Xu Long released a cage of poisonous second-generation rats around the Fireworker Monk and used Instant Transmission to leave with Rice Bucket.
• Seven days later, Song Qingshu knelt outside Zhenwu Hall and begged Zhang Sanfeng and the Seven Heroes of Wudang to avenge him.
• Song Qingshu claimed Zhou Zhiruo had attacked him with the Heavenly Sword after he caught her with a man, and Zhang Sanfeng confirmed the sword's power lingered in his wound.
• When Song Qingshu insulted Zhang Wuji, Song Yuanqiao slapped and kicked him for disrespecting his junior brother.

Song Qingshu blamed Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo for the fight, but Zhou Zhiruo's message led Abbess Miejue to learn that he had drugged and assaulted her. Meanwhile, Xu Long and Rice Bucket left the gorge and traveled onward, where they encountered a fleeing person pursued by wolfdogs.

• Song Qingshu told Zhang Sanfeng and the Wudang elders that Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo had attacked him, and Zhang Sanfeng ordered him confined until Abbess Miejue arrived.
• Abbess Miejue received Zhou Zhiruo's account that Song Qingshu had drugged and defiled her, then set out for Mount Wudang with Jingxuan, Jingxu, and Minjun.
• Xu Long assessed the martial arts world's Golden Core experts and rode Rice Bucket away from the gorge while searching for food.
• Rice Bucket heard a pack of wolfdogs approaching, and Xu Long saw them chasing a person and looked forward to having dog meat.

Xu Long killed Zhu Jiuzhen and destroyed Red Plum Manor before continuing his journey toward a campaign against the Yuan dynasty. Half a month later, he and Rice Bucket reached a town, where Xu Long paid a waiter to serve them food.

• Xu Long used the Curse Speech Technique to draw Zhu Jiuzhen's wolfhounds to him, then killed and searched Zhu Jiuzhen's soul when she attacked.
• Xu Long went to Red Plum Manor, killed Zhu Changling, and took his corpse.
• Xu Long decided to seek out Zhao Min and overthrow the Yuan dynasty.
• After half a month of travel, Xu Long and Rice Bucket entered a bustling town and looked for food.
• When a waiter refused to serve Rice Bucket, Xu Long offered silver, and the waiter agreed to cook for them.

Xu Long met Zhao Min and the Xuanming Elders at an inn, then set his sights on provoking a clash between Abbess Miejue and the Xuanming Elders. Meanwhile, Zhou Zhiruo reunited with Abbess Miejue and told her that a member of the Demon Cult’s Blazing Fire Banner had killed her two junior sisters and challenged Miejue to pursue him.

• Xu Long recognized Zhao Min and the Xuanming Elders at the inn and avoided drawing their attention.
• Zhao Min petted Rice Bucket, joined Xu Long for a meal, and grew fond of him as they talked.
• After Zhao Min left, Xu Long considered using his Curse Speech Technique to bring Abbess Miejue and the Xuanming Elders into conflict.
• Zhou Zhiruo reunited with Abbess Miejue and lamented her treatment and hardship after leaving Wudang.
• Zhou Zhiruo told Abbess Miejue that a member of the Blazing Fire Banner had killed her two junior sisters, injured her, and dared Miejue to come after him.

Abbess Miejue’s Emei group encountered Zhao Min and the Xuanming Elders on the road to Mount Wudang, and a fight broke out. An unidentified person abducted Zhao Min and knocked Zhou Zhiruo and Ding Minjun unconscious, leaving Abbess Miejue to resume her journey to confront Zhang Sanfeng.

• Abbess Miejue dismissed the possibility of a plot against Emei and led her disciples toward Mount Wudang to demand an explanation from Zhang Sanfeng.
• Zhou Zhiruo recognized Zhao Min as the killer of two Emei juniors, and Abbess Miejue confronted Zhao Min and the Xuanming Elders.
• Zhao Min defeated Zhou Zhiruo and Ding Minjun while Abbess Miejue fought Deer Staff Guest and Crane Brush Master attacked Jingxuan and Jingxu.
• The Xuanming Elders joined forces against Abbess Miejue, then discovered Zhao Min had vanished and pursued her.
• Abbess Miejue found Zhou Zhiruo and Ding Minjun unconscious but unharmed, then ordered the group to rest before continuing to Mount Wudang.

Xu Long revealed that he had orchestrated Zhao Min’s disappearance and captured her to use against the Xuanming Elders. He left Zhao Min unable to use her Internal Force and able to control her body, while his plans against the Xuanming Elders and Abbess Miejue remained underway.

• Xu Long released Zhao Min and explained that he had abducted her as part of his scheme against the Xuanming Elders.
• Zhao Min recognized Xu Long and learned that he knew she was Princess Shaomin, Minmin Temür, also known as Zhao Min.
• Xu Long told Zhao Min that he had sealed her Internal Force with the Power of Extreme Yang, Absolute Yin.
• Zhao Min tried to walk away, but Xu Long revealed that he could control her body and made her return to him.

Xu Long used Zhao Min and a ritual talisman to plot against the Xuanming Elders, revealing his extraordinary cultivation and his aim to destroy the Yuan Dynasty. Zhao Min realized he was Zhang Wuji but doubted he could kill the Elders without Zhang Sanfeng’s help.

• Xu Long compelled Zhao Min to sit on his lap and groped and kissed her while she cursed and resisted.
• Xu Long prepared to use a ritual altar to sow resentment between the Xuanming Elders and make them fight.
• Xu Long tore skin from his arm for talisman paper, healed instantly, and explained his immense vitality and three soul transformations to Zhao Min.
• Xu Long told Zhao Min he planned to eliminate the Xuanming Elders and unite the Six Great Sects with the Ming Cult against the Yuan Dynasty.
• Zhao Min recognized Xu Long as Zhang Wuji and questioned whether he could defeat the Xuanming Elders without Zhang Sanfeng.

Xu Long used a Qi-Gathering Talisman and the Curse Speech Technique to drive the Xuanming Elders into a deadly fight, though the spell’s backlash injured him. After recovering from the baleful qi’s influence, Zhao Min learned that Xu Long intended to take her to witness the elders’ deaths.

• Xu Long prepared a Qi-Gathering Talisman and used it to gather baleful qi, briefly driving Zhao Min into a murderous frenzy before Rice Bucket restrained her.
• Xu Long transferred the baleful qi to the Xuanming Elders, Deer Staff Guest and Crane Brush Master, who argued over Zhao Min’s disappearance and began fighting.
• The baleful qi overwhelmed the elders’ reason, and their vicious fight continued despite their shared mastery of Xuanming True Qi.
• Xu Long suffered severe internal injuries from the Curse Speech Technique’s backlash and returned some of his power to heaven and earth.
• Zhao Min recovered and asked why Xu Long was injured, and Xu Long said he would take her to see him kill the Xuanming Elders.

Xu Long faced a Lightning Tribulation while the Xuanming Elders were caught in its strikes and killed. After protecting himself briefly with an energy shield, he endured the continuing lightning as Zhao Min watched from hiding.

• Deer Staff Guest and Crane Brush Master realized someone had interfered as dark tribulation clouds gathered over them and Xu Long.
• Xu Long began enduring the Lightning Tribulation, and a notification reported that Fireworker Monk had died.
• Lightning struck Xu Long and the Xuanming Elders, and Deer Staff Guest died after a bolt blasted open his skull.
• Crane Brush Master mourned Deer Staff Guest before further lightning killed him, and Xu Long received treasure chest notifications for both elders.
• Xu Long used a miniature energy shield to weaken a later strike, but it shattered and the lightning continued to injure him.
• Zhao Min watched Xu Long through binoculars as the tribulation kept striking him.

Xu Long endured the final Golden Core Stage Lightning Tribulation and broke through to the Golden Core Stage. At Wudang, Zhou Zhiruo accused Song Qingshu of attacking Zhang Wuji, and Song Qingshu began recounting what happened.

• Xu Long clashed with the final lightning bolt, survived, and formed a Golden Core as his body and cultivation transformed.
• Xu Long appeared beside Zhao Min, teased her, and silenced her when she screamed.
• Abbess Miejue brought Zhou Zhiruo to Wudang to seek justice, and Zhang Sanfeng summoned Song Qingshu.
• Zhou Zhiruo described Song Qingshu attacking Zhang Wuji, while Song Qingshu denied wrongdoing and began telling his version of events.

Song Qingshu confessed to knocking Zhang Wuji off the cliff but denied violating Zhou Zhiruo, and a thunderclap during his oath made the others believe he was guilty. Song Yuanqiao crippled and expelled him from Wudang, while Zhang Sanfeng recognized the thunder as a Lightning Tribulation and wondered who was undergoing it.

• Song Qingshu admitted that he had knocked Zhang Wuji off the cliff, and Zhou Zhiruo admitted the same.
• Song Yuanqiao tried to strike Song Qingshu, but Yu Lianzhou stopped him; Abbess Miejue demanded justice for Zhou Zhiruo.
• Song Qingshu swore that he had not violated Zhou Zhiruo, but thunder sounded, and Abbess Miejue took it as proof of his guilt.
• Song Yuanqiao shattered Song Qingshu's dantian, severed his meridians, and expelled him from Wudang rather than killing him.
• Zhang Sanfeng watched the direction of the thunder and recognized it as a Lightning Tribulation marking the emergence of another powerful figure.

Zhang Sanfeng rejected Abbess Miejue’s request to join an assault on Bright Peak, while Xu Long obtained new treasures and enhanced his formation diagram. Xu Long planned to unite the Six Great Sects with the Ming Cult against the Yuan Dynasty and remained in the world to carry out that plan.

• Zhang Sanfeng refused Abbess Miejue’s proposal to attack Bright Peak and told her to reconsider her concern for the people.
• Xu Long opened treasure chests from the Fireworker Monk and the Xuanming Elders, gaining spirit stones, the Nine Yang Divine Skill, the Xuanming Divine Palm, and the Mysterious Yin Qi-Gathering Disc.
• Xu Long transferred the disc’s Qi Gathering skill into the Azure Firmament Celestial Star Formation Diagram, replacing Power of Gale.
• Xu Long decided to unite the Six Great Sects and the Ming Cult to destroy the Yuan Dynasty rather than return to the Reincarnation Temple.
• Xu Long showed Zhao Min his supreme Dharma treasure and drew it into his body as it continued to grow stronger.