Chapter Summaries

Wang Hao helped Dongfang Bai unlock her Root Chakra and begin cultivating the Seven Po Magnetic Field, though his suggestive conduct earned him a kick out of her room. Granny Song then gave him potent medicines, mistakenly believing he needed help to win Dongfang Bai over and father a child.

• Wang Hao offered Dongfang Bai a Secret Method to help her cultivate her Human Body Magnetic Field, and she accepted so she could grow strong enough to face Wang Hao.
• Wang Hao blindfolded himself with gauze and used Shock Force and physical contact to prepare Dongfang Bai’s seven po, then struck her along the spine and lower abdomen to unlock her Root Chakra.
• Dongfang Bai’s Root Chakra opened successfully, but she kicked Wang Hao through the wall and burned away his clothes with scorching True Qi before retreating to a bathtub.
• Granny Song appeared with replacement clothes and several bottles of medicine, believing Wang Hao and Dongfang Bai had been fighting intimately and that he needed help to father a child.
• Wang Hao recognized the bottles as powerful tiger-and-wolf medicines and wondered why Granny Song thought he needed them.

Wang Hao traveled to the Dugu Household and entered its hidden Sword Hall to study the lineage’s martial arts manuals. Deep in the cavern, he sensed a familiar spiritual pressure and continued toward its source.

• Dongfang Bai and Granny Song watched Wang Hao’s carriage leave, while Granny Song wondered whether Dongfang Bai might be pregnant.
• Wang Hao traveled by canal and river to the mountains near the Dugu Household, then rode Wangcai to its hidden village.
• At the village entrance, Wang Hao easily parried Dugu Qingshan’s sword attacks and introduced himself as Zhu Yanzu, Dugu Qiubai’s disciple.
• Dugu Ye recognized Dugu Qiubai’s Profound Iron Sword Token and escorted Wang Hao to Sword Hall, allowing Dugu Qingshan to follow.
• Wang Hao ventured deeper into Sword Hall and sensed a familiar spiritual pressure ahead.

Wang Hao recognized the pressure in the Dugu Lineage’s Sword Hall as Sword Force left behind by Dugu Qiubai, then read and comprehended the cave’s martial arts texts. He tried to temper his True Spirit Sword Intent against the force, awakening the sword’s power and leaving him trapped under its overwhelming pressure as the elders retreated with Dugu Qingshan.

• Wang Hao explained that Dugu Qiubai had reached the Celestial Person Realm and left Sword Force in his sword.
• Wang Hao and Dugu Qingshan read the martial arts texts in the cave, while Wang Hao quickly skimmed and comprehended them all.
• Wang Hao approached the boxes at the cave’s deepest point and stopped using his methods for easing the Sword Force so he could temper his True Spirit Sword Intent.
• Dugu Qingshan warned Wang Hao not to resist the Sword Force directly, but the sword’s power surged and made both men spit blood.
• The elders rushed in, carried Dugu Qingshan to safety, and could not reach Wang Hao beneath the intensified Sword Force.

Wang Hao survived a month resisting the Sword Demon's Sword Force, but exhausted its power and nearly starved to death. After the Dugu elders fed him, Dugu Qingshan accidentally broke the now-ordinary peach branch that had been their ancestor’s sword, and Wang Hao admitted the branch had lost its power because of him.

• The Dugu elders feared the Great Heavenly Demon’s wrath if Wang Hao died, but waited rather than enter the Sword Hall while the Sword Force raged.
• After a month, Dugu Qingshan reported that the Sword Force had receded, and the elders found Wang Hao alive beside the opened stone boxes.
• Wang Hao asked for food, and the patriarch ordered the clan to provide treasured medicines and blood wine to help him recover.
• Wang Hao explained that the peach branch was the Sword Demon’s sword and described how cultivation could make any object a weapon.
• Wang Hao tossed the branch to Dugu Qingshan, who reflexively cut it in two and provoked the elders’ fury.
• Wang Hao admitted that he had worn away the sword’s Sword Force, leaving the elders glaring at him.

Wang Hao offered the Dugu Lineage a Secret Method to help them reach the Innate Realm in exchange for emerging into the martial world and supporting his plans. After the old patriarch accepted his conditions, Dugu Qingshan asked whether he could seek the inheritance of Sword Immortal Ye Gucheng or Sword God Ximen Chuixue.

• Wang Hao offered to help the Dugu Lineage break through to the Innate Realm after destroying their ancestral sword, and he explained how he could adapt a Mount Heng Sword Sect method using the Carefree Sect manuals.
• The old patriarch asked about the risks, and Wang Hao claimed the shortcut consumed potential and left cultivators unable to advance further.
• Wang Hao asked the Dugu Lineage to emerge and reveal the existence of Xiantian Grandmasters, then compete for the inheritances of Sword Immortal Ye Gucheng and Sword God Ximen Chuixue and support whoever obtained them.
• Wang Hao asked the Dugu Lineage to protect the young girl chosen by Sword Saint Dugu Jian as an inheritor, and the old patriarch agreed to send people to serve as Dao protectors.
• Dugu Qingshan eagerly asked whether he could become an inheritor of Sword Immortal Ye Gucheng or Sword God Ximen Chuixue.

Wang Hao rejected Dugu Qingshan as a candidate for the Sword Immortal and Sword God's legacies because Qingshan had already cultivated Acquired True Qi, then asked the Dugu Household to bring him younger candidates. While recovering in the cave, Wang Hao made progress in his cultivation and chose to consider a flexible third force from the Nine-Character True Art.

• Wang Hao refused Dugu Qingshan's request to inherit the legacies, explaining that Qingshan's cultivation path made him unsuitable.
• Wang Hao offered to screen the Dugu Household's younger members, and the old patriarch planned to bring them back in three days.
• Wang Hao recovered in the Sword Demon's cave, used the Dao Comprehension Function to deduce a Secret Method for reaching the Innate Realm, and noted his improved cultivation.
• Wang Hao considered using the Essence Blood method as a basis for a future body-tempering Secret Method but postponed the effort until after he recovered.
• Wang Hao decided to choose a flexible, defensive or supportive third force from the Nine-Character True Art and began weighing his options.

Wang Hao watched the Dugu Lineage’s young members fight to choose inheritors and became interested in a stubborn girl with weak cultivation but remarkable endurance. When she counterattacked after suffering severe injuries, Dugu Qingshan rushed in to strike her, leaving Wang Hao’s response unresolved.

• Wang Hao raised his Tenacious Force cultivation by bending and rocking on trees, then asked the Dugu Lineage’s young members to fight so he could select candidates.
• More than three hundred boys and girls gathered and paired off, while Wang Hao noticed one girl with only Third-Rate cultivation fighting a much stronger opponent.
• The girl endured broken ribs and other injuries without giving up, impressing Wang Hao with her combat talent and resolve.
• After the girl evaded a powerful strike and counterattacked, Dugu Qingshan rushed in and swung a forceful palm at her.

Wang Hao stopped Dugu Qingshan from attacking a girl and learned that she was Qingshan’s daughter, whom the Dugu Lineage blamed for her mother’s death in childbirth. He declared her his daughter, uncovered the severe abuse and injuries she had suffered, and withdrew the opportunity he had planned to give the Dugu Lineage.

• Wang Hao blocked Dugu Qingshan’s True Qi-enhanced attack and demanded to know why he was mistreating the girl.
• The old patriarch explained that the girl was Qingshan’s daughter, born after her mother died giving birth to twins, but Qingshan denied her and called her a bastard.
• Wang Hao kicked Qingshan away, comforted the girl, and declared that she would be his daughter, Zhu Yanzu’s daughter.
• Wang Hao released his killing aura as he condemned the Dugu Lineage for blaming a child, and the old patriarch explained that Qingshan had acted out of desperation to preserve their bloodline.
• Wang Hao disowned the girl from the Dugu Household and examined her, discovering over a hundred badly healed fractures, extensive scars, and failing internal organs.
• Wang Hao said the Dugu Lineage would not receive a Dao protector for the inheritor of Peerless Sword Saint Dugu Jian.

Wang Hao rescued the injured girl from the Dugu Lineage, treated her, and named her Zhu Ruoxue, while helping the Dugu elders reach the threshold of the Innate Realm despite his anger at them. He then changed his plans, deciding to visit the Great Ming capital before traveling to Jiangnan for his promised duel with Black Mountain Old Devil.

• Wang Hao told the Dugu elders that the girl's organs were failing, treated her, and used his techniques to give the elders Innate True Qi in exchange for their earlier agreement.
• Wang Hao carried the girl away, gave her Nine Flower Jade Dew Wine, reset her badly healed bones, and named her Zhu Ruoxue.
• Wang Hao helped Zhu Ruoxue recover and taught her the Foundation Establishment Sword Art, which she used to reach the Second-rate realm.
• Wang Hao decided to skip the Mount Tai Sword Sect for now and visit the Great Ming capital before his scheduled fight with Black Mountain Old Devil in Jiangnan.
• Wang Hao planned to copy the imperial family's martial arts manuals and leave Zhu Ruoxue in its care while he searched for cultivation techniques.

Wang Hao learned that the Confucian School had taken the little girl he valued and received its challenge to meet in Chang'an next spring. He then reached the capital as Zhu Yanzu and began convincing Zhu Yuanzhang that his fabricated identity and the Great Heavenly Demon's mark were real.

• Wang Hao read the Confucian School's challenge, blamed Qin Yan for the girl's abduction, and warned Xie Feng to continue arranging matters around the Mount Tai Sword Sect and Mount Song Sword Sect.
• Wang Hao and Zhu Ruoxue traveled by river to the capital, where Cao Haisheng welcomed him and escorted him to Emperor Mingde.
• Wang Hao entered the imperial study, greeted Emperor Mingde and the Wheel-Turning King, and revealed that he had sensed Zhu Yuanzhang behind the screen.
• Wang Hao told Zhu Yuanzhang that the Great Heavenly Demon's Demon Seed marked him and described three difficult ways to remove it.
• Wang Hao had hypnotized himself during the journey so he truly believed the fabricated story that he was Zhu Yanzu of a hidden imperial branch.

Wang Hao used his claims about the Great Heavenly Demon and overseas martial arts to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang and the others that the danger was real and that he could reach the Celestial Person Realm. After he revealed eighty-seven Half-step Innate experts hiding in the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Wheel-Turning King to deal with them, but Wang Hao stopped him.

• Wang Hao told Emperor Mingde and Zhu Yuanzhang that his best chance of avoiding becoming the Great Heavenly Demon's cultivation vessel was to break through to the Shattering Realm and refine the Demon Seed.
• Wang Hao claimed that a Secret Method could let him use Great Ming's fortune to reach the Celestial Person Realm, and described Master Kong's Literary Qi Nourishing Method.
• Wang Hao displayed Divine Sense, then used the system's Treasure-Seeking Function to find eighty-seven Half-step Innate experts in the capital.
• The Wheel-Turning King realized that only forty-three of those experts belonged to the Great Ming imperial family and suggested eliminating the rest.
• Zhu Yuanzhang approved the Wheel-Turning King's plan, but Wang Hao stopped him before he could leave.

Wang Hao secured Zhu Yuanzhang’s support by claiming the Great Heavenly Demon’s Secret Method could raise Half-step Innate experts to the Innate Realm, then offered to test the Zhu Household’s descendants and provide the method. After Wang Hao left with Emperor Mingde, Zhu Yuanzhang confirmed the method was genuine, giving the Wheel-Turning King hope of breaking through.

• Wang Hao explained that a Secret Method from the Great Heavenly Demon’s Demon Seed could force Half-step Innate experts to reach the Innate Realm, and reassured Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Mingde, and the Wheel-Turning King about the threat from overseas forces.
• Zhu Yuanzhang pledged to help Wang Hao, gave him a jade token granting access throughout the palace, and ordered Emperor Mingde and the Wheel-Turning King to gather the household’s underage descendants for aptitude testing.
• Wang Hao requested permission to copy the imperial family’s martial arts manuals and offered to pass on his inheritance to suitable descendants; Zhu Yuanzhang agreed and ordered the gathering within a month.
• Wang Hao wrote out a complete Secret Method for breaking through to Innate and presented it to Zhu Yuanzhang, who sent him away with Emperor Mingde to arrange a residence.
• After Wang Hao left, the Wheel-Turning King questioned his disrespectful manner, but Zhu Yuanzhang attributed it to the Great Heavenly Demon’s influence and confirmed that the Secret Method was genuine.

Wang Hao settled Zhu Ruoxue into the palace and brought her to the Great Ming imperial vault to seek medicine for her depleted body. He took five treasures and discovered an immense martial-arts collection, but planned to copy its rarest manuals first because his stay in the capital was short.

• Wang Hao reassured Zhu Ruoxue that she could keep wearing plain clothes, ordered daily medicine for her, and took her with him to the imperial vault.
• Wang Hao used Zhu Yuanzhang’s jade token to enter the vault and had Xiao Mengmeng identify five treasures.
• Wang Hao took three ancient medicinal ingredients, a half-finished Mystic Heavy Stone, and a fiery spearhead for possible future use in forging a divine weapon.
• Wang Hao found the Great Ming family’s vast collection of martial arts manuals and calculated that sharing them with Dongfang Bai could earn him hundreds of thousands of Fortune Points.
• Wang Hao decided to copy the Grandmaster-level manuals and Innate secret arts during his three-day stay, leaving the first-floor collection for a later visit.

Wang Hao left the imperial capital to face Black Mountain Old Devil and draw out the Confucian School, accompanied by ten newly Innate eunuchs. After discovering they cultivated the Sunflower Manual, he offered to help them advance further, hoping their experience would help him find a way to control Dongfang Bai’s dangerous Extreme Yang cultivation.

• Wang Hao left the secret vault with Zhu Ruoxue, whose swordsmanship and health had improved during their three days there.
• Wang Hao told Emperor Mingde he intended to use his appointment with Black Mountain Old Devil to lure out the Confucian School, and Emperor Mingde arranged ten Innate eunuchs to accompany him south.
• Wang Hao packed medicinal ingredients and prepared to continue cultivating during the journey, then welcomed the ten eunuchs and their promise to protect him.
• The eunuchs revealed that they cultivated the Sunflower Manual and used a joint attack method that could challenge stronger Innate opponents.
• Wang Hao offered to discuss a Secret Method that could help the eunuchs advance, hoping to learn from their cultivation while seeking a solution for Dongfang Bai’s extreme yang energy.

Wang Hao met Zhu Yijun at the palace gates and agreed to advise him on his cultivation during their journey south. After Princess Shaoyang joined them, Wang Hao gave her a chance to inherit his Impermanence Sword Dao and explained the basics of Divine Sense, leaving her with a one-month test.

• Wang Hao warned Zhu Yijun that pill toxins could limit his cultivation and offered to help him improve his Dragon Divine Art.
• Zhu Yijun took Wang Hao and Zhu Ruoxue into a carriage, but Princess Shaoyang stopped their journey.
• Wang Hao recognized Princess Shaoyang's talent for Divine Sense and gave her a cultivation method, setting a one-month deadline for her to qualify as heir to his Impermanence Sword Dao.
• Wang Hao explained the three Dantians and the difference between Acquired and Innate Divine Sense to Zhu Yijun and the eunuchs.
• Wang Hao continued nourishing Zhu Ruoxue with Innate Qi as Princess Shaoyang carefully kept the cultivation method.

Wang Hao and his companions reached Jinling, where Princess Shaoyang arranged for Jiangnan officials to deliver a fortune in precious medicinal herbs. Wang Hao praised her talent and hinted that he would teach her the Impermanence Sword Dao, then saw the startling results of his experiments on the ten old eunuchs.

• Wang Hao's party reached Jinling three days ahead of schedule and settled into the temporary imperial residence.
• Princess Shaoyang spread word that Wang Hao would assess Jiangnan officials and coveted precious medicinal herbs, prompting officials to send several rooms of valuable gifts.
• Zhu Yijun condemned the officials' apparent corruption, while Wang Hao said they had already slipped beyond the imperial family's control.
• Wang Hao told Princess Shaoyang to find a flexible soft sword, implying that he would pass on the Impermanence Sword Dao.
• One of the ten old eunuchs arrived from Mount Qingyuan after the Sunflower Manual experiments had feminized the eunuchs' bodies and appearance.

Wang Hao arrived at Mount Qingyuan for his arranged duel with Black Mountain Old Devil, drawing attention with his formidable retinue and the transformed eunuchs now posing as peerless beauties. With Black Mountain Old Devil still absent, Wang Hao detected hidden experts and called out two Late-stage Innate cultivators, leaving their intentions uncertain.

• Martial artists gathered in great numbers at Mount Qingyuan to discuss whether Black Mountain Old Devil would appear to duel Zhu Yanzu.
• Wang Hao arrived with Zhu Yijun, Princess Shaoyang, Zhu Ruoxue, ten transformed old eunuchs, and ten Eastern Depot guards, astonishing the crowd with his entourage.
• Wang Hao rebuked the transformed eunuchs for showing off, and Chen Yushuang agreed to act seriously while the group prepared for possible danger.
• Wang Hao used the Treasure-Seeking Function and detected many Innate experts, including Li Haoran, Qin Yan, and two hidden Late-stage Innate cultivators.
• Wang Hao called to the two concealed experts on a distant peak, and the crowd and his guards turned toward them, awaiting their response.

Zhu Yanzu confronted Zhang Wuji, Zhou Zhiruo, and three hidden middle-stage innate experts before his challenge match, using his ten maids’ strength to make the onlookers declare their intentions. He then identified a possible connection between a Western Regions expert and Black Mountain Old Devil, and called out thirteen concealed early-stage experts, including the hostile Confucian School group.

• Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo arrived after Zhu Yanzu detected them, and he identified them as the Ming Cult leader and Emei Sect leader while claiming his cult had investigated them.
• Zhang Wuji said he and Zhou Zhiruo would not interfere in the coming challenge match, then withdrew with her to watch from a distance.
• Zhu Yanzu exposed three hidden middle-stage innate experts, challenged them to choose between watching and fighting, and his ten maids revealed their early-stage innate strength.
• The three experts backed down and moved aside after seeing the maids’ strength, while Zhu Yanzu warned Zhu Yijun and the others to watch the Western Regions man, whom he suspected was linked to Black Mountain Old Devil.
• Zhu Yanzu called out thirteen concealed early-stage experts, including Li Haoran and seven other Confucian School members, whom he recognized as enemies.

Wang Hao confronted the Confucian School delegation and Black Mountain Old Devil at the mountain summit, while arranging for his allies to protect the children and engage the Confucian swordsmen. The agreed battle began with Black Mountain Old Devil and an ally cornering Wang Hao, confident they could capture him.

• The Confucian School's eight Early Innate members arrived, and Wang Hao inferred that their ancient swords had helped them strengthen their cultivation and Divine Sense.
• Wang Hao exposed the Confucian School's search for Master Kong's Literary Qi Nourishing Method, prompting its members to consider searching their ancestors' tombs for clues.
• Wang Hao warned Li Haoran and Qin Yan that the powerful juniors they had attacked would eventually come after them, then sent Zhu Ruoxue, Zhu Yijun, and Princess Shaoyang to Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo for protection.
• Wang Hao assigned Eunuch Chen and his nine companions to fight the eight Confucian swordsmen and told the other spectators to stand aside.
• Black Mountain Old Devil revealed that he had come to avenge his son and planned to use Wang Hao as a cultivation cauldron; his senior brother helped corner Wang Hao as their master remained nearby.

The Confucian School and Eunuch Chen’s companions clashed in deadly formations while Wang Hao fought Black Mountain Old Devil and his muscular senior brother. The battle left the Confucian School’s fighters on the verge of defeat, while Wang Hao revealed the power of his swordsmanship and discovered his opponent’s unusual defensive art.

• The Confucian School’s eight fighters and Eunuch Chen’s nine companions launched the Eight Extremes Sword Formation and Ten Directions Certain Kill against each other.
• Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo recognized the Ten Directions Certain Kill as a formation from the overseas martial world and worried that its strength signaled a coming invasion.
• Black Mountain Old Devil’s senior brother transformed into a towering mass of muscle and attacked Wang Hao alongside Black Mountain Old Devil.
• Wang Hao unleashed his Impermanence Sword Qi, forcing Black Mountain Old Devil to retreat with a deep wound and making the muscular fighter evade a follow-up strike.
• Wang Hao found that his opponent’s skin deflected most of his sword energy, while Black Mountain Old Devil called for his senior brother to attack again and began firing Absolute Yin Finger force from a distance.