Chapter Summaries

Wang Hao visited the Mount Heng Sword Sect to study its sword formation and obtain its martial arts manuals, while posing as Wuming of the Sword Faction. He arrived to find Long Ling and Longxiang waiting for him, setting up a meeting over the flying-sword techniques that had drawn their interest.

• Wang Hao rode to the Mount Heng Sword Sect after opening his fourth Human Body Magnetic Field, which let him control eighty-one flying longswords with immense force and speed.
• Abbess Qingmiao welcomed Wuming, and he explained that he had come to see the sect's sword formation and offered compensation for any offense.
• Wang Hao told Abbess Qingmiao a fabricated history of surviving a steppe raid and studying with the Sword Faction to explain his vendetta against collaborators.
• Wang Hao entered the sect and recognized Long Ling and Longxiang, but pretended to mistake them for steppe enemies and showed murderous intent.
• Abbess Qingmiao explained that Long Ling and Longxiang had helped the Central Plains, and Wang Hao withdrew his hostility and apologized to them.

Wang Hao concealed his cultivation of the Supreme Yoga Tantra by claiming he practiced the Sword Control Technique, then used demonstrations and explanations of magnetic fields to impress the Buddhist and Mount Heng Sword Sect figures. He began recounting the origins and power of the Tathagata Divine Palm, leaving his listeners eager to hear more.

• Little Lama Long Ling recognized that Wang Hao had cultivated the Five Wheels Temple's Supreme Yoga Tantra, and Wang Hao pretended it was his Sword Control Technique.
• Wang Hao summoned a distant longsword and invited Little Lama Long Ling to demonstrate his own ability, revealing how much stronger Wang Hao's magnetic-field control was.
• Wang Hao explained the seven corporeal souls and claimed that the Sword Control Technique and Supreme Yoga Tantra both derived from the Tathagata Divine Palm.
• Wang Hao magnetized an embroidery needle and demonstrated how it aligned north to south in tea, convincing Little Lama Long Ling and the others that the earth had a great magnetic field.
• Wang Hao described the Tathagata Divine Palm as a heavenly-descending strike that connected the body's magnetic field to the great magnetic field, and said its teachings had been divided after Shakyamuni's death.

After Wang Hao’s claims prompted the martial schools to search for lost scriptures, Shaomu Temple debated how to recover its divine arts and prepare for upheaval. Wang Hao then linked the Esoteric Sect’s Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art to the Tathagata Divine Palm, leaving High Person Longxiang astonished.

• The Wheel-Turning King and Elder Chu reported Wang Hao’s claims to Zhu Yuanzhang, who ordered them to watch for news from overseas.
• Taoist sects searched ancient texts for the Dao Classic, while Qin Yan alerted the Confucian branches to seek Master Kong’s Literary Qi Nourishing Method.
• Shaomu Temple’s old monk confirmed that the Golden Bell Shield Divine Art on Puyin’s prayer beads was genuine and appeared to continue beyond its fourth stage, but said he could not deduce the rest.
• Fangzheng lifted the restriction on the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic and urged Shaomu Temple’s monks to strengthen the temple before the coming upheaval.
• Wang Hao told Abbess Qingmiao, Long Ling, and the others that the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art likely descended from the Tathagata Divine Palm, surprising High Person Longxiang.

Wang Hao offered to trade martial arts with the Five Wheels Temple, but learned that its Supreme Yoga Tantra inheritance was incomplete. Abbess Qingmiao then revealed that the Mount Heng Sword Sect inherited the Nine Yin True Scripture and Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, and the chapter ended with the discovery that the Five Wheels Temple and Emei shared a historical connection through the Golden Wheel Dharma King.

• Wang Hao offered the Five Wheels Temple a Tathagata Divine Palm fragment and the Rushing Thunder Iron-Refining Hand in exchange for the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art and Supreme Yoga Tantra.
• Long Ling explained that the Five Wheels Temple had the complete Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art but only a fragment of the Supreme Yoga Tantra.
• Abbess Qingmiao sent Dingjing to guard the room and asked Wang Hao whether he knew of the Nine Yin True Scripture and Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.
• Wang Hao recognized the two arts and deduced that the Mount Heng Sword Sect had inherited them from Emei; Abbess Qingmiao confirmed the connection.
• Long Ling told Qingmiao that the Five Wheels Temple inherited from the Golden Wheel Dharma King, who had passed the Supreme Yoga Esoteric Vehicle Divine Art to Guo Xiang.
• Wang Hao confirmed the historical link and explained that the Golden Wheel Dharma King had admired Guo Xiang, leaving Qingmiao alarmed by how much the overseas martial world knew about the Central Plains.

Wang Hao and Abbess Qingmiao revealed the Emei Sect’s three hidden martial arts legacies, including the Supreme Yoga Tantra, and agreed to exchange their arts with Long Ling. Wang Hao offered Long Ling a body-tempering Secret Method in return for restrictions and intelligence about the steppe martial world, but Long Ling asked whether Wang Hao planned to massacre its people.

• Abbess Qingmiao opened a Profound Iron box containing the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, the Nine Yin True Scripture, and the Supreme Yoga Tantra, which Long Ling recognized.
• Wang Hao, Long Ling, and Abbess Qingmiao agreed to exchange martial arts, and Wang Hao deduced and wrote down the Supreme Yoga Tantra-derived Tathagata Divine Palm and the Rushing Thunder Iron-Refining Hand.
• Wang Hao claimed the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art needed to be paired with a magnetic body-tempering Secret Method, then offered that method to Long Ling in exchange for two conditions.
• Long Ling agreed not to share the Secret Method for twenty years or harm Huaxia, and Wang Hao asked him to describe the steppe martial world's ultimate-art legacies.
• Long Ling asked Wang Hao whether he intended to unleash a massacre in the steppe martial world.

Wang Hao secured Long Ling’s promise to introduce the Buddha Lord Shengxiu to the steppe martial world and taught Long Ling a magnetic-field body-tempering method. After studying the martial arts exchanged at the meeting, Wang Hao began preparing to explain the Heavenly Demon Sacred Cult’s powerful figures to Abbess Qingmiao.

• Wang Hao asked Long Ling to arrange introductions for the invented Buddha Lord Shengxiu, and Long Ling agreed to write letters to the steppe sects.
• Wang Hao used his Human Body Magnetic Field to guide Long Ling until the lama formed a self-sustaining cycle for tempering his body.
• While Long Ling continued practicing, Wang Hao studied the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, the Nine Yin True Scripture, and the Supreme Yoga Tantra.
• Wang Hao praised the Nine Yin True Scripture’s broad principles and considered using its Soul-Shifting Great Art as a basis for developing a stronger hypnosis method.
• Abbess Qingmiao asked Wang Hao to identify the Heavenly Demon Sacred Cult’s formidable figures, and he was secretly pleased to have a chance to spin another tale.

Wang Hao visited the Mount Heng Sword Sect and tested its sword formation while studying its techniques. After breaking through the formation’s defenses and battling its inner ranks, he called on the sect’s elders to join, hoping to witness its full power.

• Wang Hao told Abbess Qingmiao about the Heavenly Demon Sacred Cult and named the Immortal Lord and Divine Lord as two of its Tribulation Lords.
• Abbess Qingmiao invited Wang Hao to evaluate the Mount Heng Sword Formation, and he examined the forty-two nuns assembled on the training ground.
• Wang Hao used nine flying swords against the formation, then increased their number to thirty-six to break through its defenses and enter its center.
• Wang Hao fought Abbess Qingmiao and the other nuns with seventy-two swords, discovering that the formation created a domain that enhanced their speed and combat power.
• Wang Hao noticed eight elderly nuns, including a Half-step Innate expert in a wheelchair, and asked them to join the formation.

Wang Hao urged the Mount Heng Sword Sect to unleash its strongest sword formation, revealing Abbess Weiyu and seven reclusive Half-step Innate nuns. He used their attacks to test and refine a defensive formation of eighty-one flying swords, leaving the battle ongoing as the nuns pressed their assault.

• Wang Hao sensed that the Mount Heng Sword Formation had hidden power, and Abbess Qingmiao and the other abbesses recognized Abbess Weiyu, their supposedly deceased former leader, when she appeared with seven senior nuns.
• Abbess Qingmiao explained the day's events to Abbess Weiyu, who sent the seven senior nuns and Qingmiao's group to demonstrate the formation at full strength.
• The seven Half-step Innate nuns led the Mount Heng Sword Formation while Abbess Qingmiao and the others supported them, and they warned Wang Hao before attacking.
• Wang Hao formed a defensive sword formation with eighty-one flying swords, which he had derived using the Dao Comprehension Function from his knowledge of martial arts and the Mount Heng Sword Formation.
• The Mount Heng Sword Formation's first full-power strike dented Wang Hao's defense but failed to break it, helping him refine the formation.
• Abbess Qingmiao and the others launched a sustained series of full-force attacks against Wang Hao's flying-sword defense.

Wang Hao used the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s fighters to perfect his Wuji Sword Formation, then recognized that Dingzhen could cultivate the Seven Po Magnetic Field. He offered to teach her his Sword Control Technique, but she refused to leave Mount Heng, while Abbess Qingmiao threatened Wang Hao over his past with her disciple.

• Wang Hao refined his Wuji Sword Formation until the seven reclusive old nuns could no longer break through it, and Abbess Weiyu called off the fight.
• Dingzhen appeared to support Abbess Qingmiao, and Wang Hao noticed her strong magnetic force and realized she could cultivate the Seven Po Magnetic Field.
• Abbess Qingmiao mistook Wang Hao’s interest in Dingzhen for improper attention, so he explained that he wanted to teach her his Sword Control Technique.
• Long Ling confirmed that Dingzhen had the same constitution as the Buddha and could cultivate the Seven Po Magnetic Field, easing the nuns’ suspicions of Wang Hao.
• Dingzhen refused to leave the Mount Heng Sword Sect because she expected Wang Hao to visit her, prompting Abbess Qingmiao to threaten to have her seven grand-aunts kill him.

Wang Hao persuaded Dingzhen to consider joining the Sword Faction, then traded martial arts manuals with the Mount Heng Sword Sect while copying their collection. Meanwhile, frontier martial artists plotted to lure his Wuming alter ego into a grassland invasion and wear him down with an army.

• Wang Hao explained that Dingzhen could learn the Sword Control Technique without returning to the Sword Faction, and warned that the Heavenly Sword Heart Method could strip away emotions and change her nature.
• Wang Hao gave Dingzhen three days to decide whether to join the Sword Faction, then asked Abbess Qingmiao to take him to the Mount Heng Sword Sect's manuals.
• Wang Hao offered the Mount Heng Sword Sect copies of the martial arts manuals he had collected and began copying its books in the forbidden cave.
• Abbess Qingmiao left to arrange the exchange and inform her sect about the overseas martial world and the Heavenly Demon Sacred Cult.
• Frontier Half-step Innate experts reviewed intelligence about Wuming's strength and agreed to provoke a southward raid by grassland tribes so an army could weaken him.

After learning that a steppe army had invaded Huaxia and massacred civilians, Wang Hao prepared to destroy the invaders while allowing Long Ling to rescue innocent people. He arranged support from the Mount Heng Sword Sect and agreed to teach Dingzhen sword arts as she joined his Sword Faction.

• Wang Hao emerged from the forbidden grounds, and Abbess Qingmiao told him that a hundred thousand steppe soldiers and nearly a million auxiliaries had crossed the Yellow River after collaborators opened the way.
• After hearing that at least a hundred thousand civilians had been killed, Wang Hao vowed to make the steppe army pay and gave Long Ling half a day to evacuate innocent steppe people.
• Wang Hao asked Abbess Qingmiao to secretly destroy the boats, gather medicinal herbs, and prepare thousands of high-quality longswords for the coming battle.
• Dingzhen asked to join Wang Hao's Sword Faction so she could gain the strength to help an uncle who was being hunted, and Wang Hao accepted her decision.
• Wang Hao gave Dingzhen manuscripts on the Sword Control Technique, the Wuji Sword Formation, and the first half of the Cihang Sword Codex.

Wang Hao prepared medicine and a tear-inducing substance for his plan to stop the invading steppe army, then gathered the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s swords so he could refine them with the Sword Control Technique. The chapter left him waiting for horses to transport the enormous collection as Wangcai bounded into the training ground.

• Abbess Qingmiao sent most of the Mount Heng Sword Sect’s people, including its senior martial aunts, to investigate the steppe army while Wang Hao worked in the sect’s medicinal cavern.
• Wang Hao deduced prescriptions for treating wounds and wind-cold, then began preparing medicines and a tear-inducing substance from medicinal dregs to restrict the enemy army.
• Wang Hao drank from the medicinal decoction and packed seven-thousand-year-old ginseng roots and six lingzhi mushrooms before leaving the cavern.
• Wang Hao sensed more than ten Half-step Innate experts watching the sect, then examined the more than ten thousand swords Abbess Weiyu had collected for him.
• Wang Hao asked Abbess Weiyu to arrange horses to carry the swords, and she said Dingzhen was already handling it.
• Wangcai jumped into the training ground, and Wang Hao cursed when he saw what came in with it.

High Person Longxiang and Long Ling withdrew more than ten thousand slaves from the steppe army, while Wang Hao prepared to attack the million-strong camp before his tear-inducing medicine arrived. Wang Hao galloped toward the army with Dingzhen and her huskies, leaving Abbess Qingmiao and Xie Feng to secure the river crossings as battle loomed.

• High Person Longxiang and Long Ling failed to persuade the steppe chiefs and temple experts to abandon their campaign, but they led more than ten thousand slaves across the Yellow River to safety.
• Wang Hao discovered that Dingzhen's eighteen enormous huskies were Wangcai's offspring and prepared their swords for battle by refining them with Innate Qi and Divine Sense.
• Abbess Qingmiao gave Wang Hao a map and reported that the steppe army had camped in a defensible area after sending out scouts.
• Wang Hao ordered Abbess Qingmiao to prepare tear-inducing smoke at the southern opening and eastern woods, then told Xie Feng to guard the pontoon bridge and northern bank.
• Wang Hao rode toward the steppe army's camp with Dingzhen and the huskies, beginning his attack before the medicine arrived.

Wang Hao and Dingzhen fought their way through a ten-thousand-strong cavalry force toward Khan Wantu’s camp, while Wang Hao adjusted the Wuji Sword Formation to attack. When the battlefield overwhelmed Dingzhen, Wang Hao taught her a heart method he had devised to calm her mind, and she resolved to keep fighting.

• Khan Wantu learned that Human Butcher Wuming was approaching with Dingzhen and giant wolves, then gathered tribal chiefs and Esoteric Sect masters to confront him.
• Wang Hao used the Wuji Sword Formation to shield himself, Dingzhen, and the huskies while advancing through the cavalry and killing the Esoteric Sect Grandmasters who challenged him.
• Wang Hao sensed that only three Half-step Innate experts had joined the army and began shifting the formation from defense to offense.
• Dingzhen retched at the slaughter, and Wang Hao devised the Ice Heart Instruction to help both of them maintain their composure.
• Dingzhen practiced the Ice Heart Instruction, recovered enough to face the battlefield, and vowed not to retreat.

Wang Hao’s Wuji Sword Formation slaughtered hundreds of thousands of grassland soldiers, while Central Plains martial experts and the grassland leaders plotted to take him down and seize his secrets. As Wang Hao switched to defense, masked Half-step Innate experts attacked—not him, but the spare swords carried by the huskies.

• Central Plains Half-step Innate experts resolved to join forces with the grassland leaders after deciding that Wuming had to be captured or killed to obtain the Sword Faction’s inheritance.
• Khan Wantu and the three elderly lamas identified Wang Hao’s spare longswords as a possible weakness, then agreed to cooperate with the thirty-four Central Plains experts who arrived seeking an audience.
• Wang Hao completed the Wuji Sword Formation’s slaughter configuration and killed another hundred thousand grassland soldiers, but the attack consumed his reserves and shattered more than a thousand swords.
• After another half-hour, Wang Hao unleashed the formation’s slaughter mode again and reaped another hundred thousand lives before preparing to withdraw it.
• Dozens of masked Half-step Innate experts disguised as grassland soldiers struck during the formation’s transition, and Wang Hao changed to defensive mode to protect himself and Dingzhen.
• The attackers abruptly turned toward the huskies carrying Wang Hao’s spare longswords, revealing that the swords were their true target.

Wang Hao and Dingzhen were trapped by the prairie army after Central Plains experts stole their spare flying swords, leaving their escape attempt toward the Yellow River in jeopardy. Wang Hao prepared to use the approaching thunderstorm, raising the knockoff Hero Sword on a chain and devising a method to draw lightning.

• Thirty-four Half-step Innate experts stole the spare flying swords from the huskies and escaped into the prairie army.
• Dingzhen treated the wounded huskies while Wang Hao held off the army with the Wuji Sword Formation.
• Wang Hao found the prairie army had encircled them and turned north toward the Yellow River, but the cavalry and the Central Plains experts moved to block his route.
• Wang Hao noticed the approaching thunderstorm and had Dingzhen lead the huskies ten zhang away while he strengthened the sword formation's defense.
• Wang Hao used the knockoff Hero Sword and a long steel chain to prepare a lightning conductor, then devised a Lightning-Guiding Secret Method with the Dao Comprehension Function.

Wang Hao endured lightning to devise and test a makeshift electromagnetic cannon while surrounded by the steppe army. After its first shot failed to reach the soldiers, Xiao Mengmeng pointed out that he had wasted most of the lightning’s power, and Wang Hao prepared to strike back in earnest.

• The Half-step Innate experts hesitated to attack Wang Hao again because their weapons were damaged, then panicked when lightning struck the knockoff Hero Sword.
• Wang Hao contained the lightning in his body, discovered it could rapidly strengthen him but drain his Bloodline Power, and asked Dingzhen for medicinal supplies.
• Dingzhen gave Wang Hao eight thousand-year-old blood ginseng roots and other herbs, allowing him to replenish his Bloodline Power and deduce a method for an electromagnetic cannon.
• The steppe soldiers drove spare horses at Wang Hao’s defenses, and Wang Hao fired a lightning-charged sword that cleared a path through the horses but failed to hit anyone.
• Khan Wantu mocked Wang Hao’s attack and promised great rewards to spur on his army, while Xiao Mengmeng explained that Wang Hao had diverted most of the lightning’s power.
• Wang Hao realized his mistake, smiled at the advancing army, and pushed the knockoff Hero Sword’s lightning-attracting magnetic field to its limit.

Abbess Qingmiao and her allies prepared to trap the steppe army while Wuming fought inside its ranks, but Xu Miaoyin doubted that one man could defeat a million soldiers. Lightning then struck the army repeatedly, carving passages through it with orange-red pillars of light, and Xu hurried to defend Red Mountain Pass.

• Dingjing reported that the grand martial aunts had scuttled boats along the Yellow River and spread tear-inducing smoke through the forests.
• Xu Miaoyin told Abbess Qingmiao that she had sealed Red Ridge Pass and asked for more tear-inducing medicine; Qingmiao promised half of the next batch.
• Abbess Qingmiao thanked Tie Kuangtu and the other martial leaders, then revealed that Wuming had entered the invading army to destroy it.
• Xu Miaoyin condemned the plan but resolved to defend Red Mountain Pass with her cavalry and strengthen its blockade.
• Lightning struck the center of the steppe army again and again, each bolt followed by an orange-red pillar of light that blasted a passage through the troops.

Wang Hao used his lightning-powered knockoff railgun to decimate the grassland army, but Khan Wantu summoned Patriarch Red Sun, who ambushed Wang Hao and severely injured him. Wang Hao was left unable to fire the railgun as he faced the veteran Innate expert.

• Wang Hao drew lightning from the thunderclouds to power his railgun, devastating the grassland troops and forcing their leaders to keep fighting rather than retreat.
• Khan Wantu crushed a relic to summon Patriarch Red Sun, who hurried toward the battlefield from more than a thousand li away.
• The Central Plains experts stayed back, waiting for a chance to seize Wang Hao's ultimate art, while the grassland leaders drove their troops into a denser encirclement.
• Wang Hao fired all one thousand spare flying swords, reducing the foreign army to fewer than a hundred thousand troops.
• Patriarch Red Sun shattered Wang Hao's Wuji Sword Formation with a surprise palm strike and severely damaged his Dantian and internal organs.
• Wang Hao redirected lightning into Patriarch Red Sun, burning off his arm, but the veteran's True Qi remained inside Wang Hao and prevented him from using the railgun.

After Wang Hao survived Patriarch Red Sun’s ambush, the two discussed the monk’s motives before the grassland forces and Central Plains experts prepared to join together against him. The chapter ended as Patriarch Red Sun announced he would use his full strength and the other factions agreed to help kill Wang Hao.

• Patriarch Red Sun admitted he had tried to capture Wang Hao and urged him to accept secluded confinement, but Wang Hao refused and reinforced the Wuji Sword Formation with stronger flying swords.
• Wang Hao questioned Patriarch Red Sun about his lack of anger over the deaths of the grassland troops, and the monk explained that they had been warriors killed on a foreign battlefield.
• Khan Wantu arrived and urged Patriarch Red Sun to capture or kill Wang Hao so the Central Plains would not obtain his techniques; Patriarch Red Sun agreed to do his best.
• Wang Hao mounted Big White with Dingzhen’s help and prepared to continue attacking the grassland army, especially its elite cavalry.
• A group of Half-step Innate experts proposed joining forces with the grassland forces to kill Wang Hao, and Khan Wantu warned them that his crossbowmen would turn them into sieves if they schemed against him.
• Patriarch Red Sun announced he would fight Wang Hao with his full strength, while the Half-step Innate experts agreed they wanted Wang Hao dead.