Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu showed his allies the rune weapons he had prepared to retake Chen Village, but they delayed choosing helpers until they could judge how people reacted to Wind Sea Pass's fall. That night, Miao Min confronted Mingye in her room and criticized her for letting her position be known.

• Chen Mu demonstrated Rune Puppet No. 1, handheld rune cannons, and improved Rune Guns, explaining their strength and limitations.
• Chen Mu revealed that he had prepared dozens of weapons and thousands of talisman sheets, intending to use them against the Bless Flame Tribe.
• A Huo pointed out that the group lacked spirit stones and trusted operators, and Chen Mu decided to wait before recruiting Heaven-Questioning Pavilion disciples.
• Chen Duo suggested seeking help from Overlord Body Hall seniors, and the group agreed to contact trusted allies while Chen Mu planned their next steps.
• Miao Min appeared behind Mingye in her room, pressed a weapon to her neck, and scolded her for revealing her position; Mingye vanished in a flash of white light.

Miao Min cornered Mingye and forced her to attack Chen Mu, but Mingye and Chen Mu joined forces to wound Miao Min and drive her away. Afterward, Mingye admitted that she had originally followed Chen Mu to kill him, but had nowhere else to go.

• Miao Min used the Heavenly Net Barrier to counter Mingye’s spatial travel, defeated her, and demanded that she kill Chen Mu in exchange for the Tuoba Lineage forgiving her betrayal.
• Miao Min sealed Mingye’s Spiritual Power and brought her into Chen Mu’s room, where she trapped the room inside the Heavenly Net Barrier.
• Mingye struck Miao Min with the Curtain of Unseen Longing, badly injuring her hands, then teleported away from her counterattack.
• Chen Mu used the Heart-Burning Flame to distract Miao Min and shot her with Rune Gun No. 3, pinning her to the wall and weakening her.
• Miao Min escaped through the Heavenly Net Barrier, and Chen Mu chose not to pursue her.
• Chen Mu asked Mingye why she had followed him after he left Chen Village, and Mingye confessed she had first intended to hunt him down but had found nowhere else to go.

After Wind Sea Pass fell, Chen Mu secured funds and potential manpower from the Eight Directions Chamber of Commerce, then proposed defending Broken Blade Mountain alongside Absolute Sword City. He prepared an escape route but left the plan uncertain as Mingye questioned whether the city’s forces could hold off the foreign demons.

• Chen Mu asked Mingye why she had spared him, and she said she had revealed herself to learn what he would say.
• Chen Mu met Liang Yu in Absolute Sword City, received the Eight Directions Chamber of Commerce’s available spirit stones, and learned its guards could help him.
• Chen Duo told Chen Mu that Bai Jinglong had announced the fall of Wind Sea Pass and that residents were preparing to leave.
• Chen Mu gathered Chen Duo, A Huo, and Mingye and proposed positioning a group on Broken Blade Mountain to support Absolute Sword City.
• Chen Mu showed them his modified ship, which could provide an escape if the group faced no other choice.
• Mingye questioned whether Chen Mu was too pessimistic, noting the city had tens of thousands of soldiers and guards.

Chen Mu warned his companions that Absolute Sword City's forces were poorly disciplined and proposed defending Broken Blade Mountain with an elite squad. At a meeting with Bai Jinglong and the city's leaders, he supplied a thousand-mile eye to help catch the spy and began presenting his battle plan.

• Chen Mu told A Huo, Mingye, and Chen Duo that the Absolute Sword Army and city guards were unreliable, and they agreed to support his Broken Blade Mountain plan.
• Chen Mu visited Bai Jinglong and learned that the city leaders were discussing how to find the humans colluding with fiends at Chaotic Stone Peak.
• Chen Mu gave Bai Jinglong a thousand-mile eye with no Spiritual Power fluctuations, and Bai Jinglong agreed to use it to watch for the collaborators.
• Chen Mu unfolded a map and proposed stationing an elite squad on Broken Blade Mountain to support Absolute Sword City.

Chen Mu persuaded Bai Jinglong to consider stationing a force on Broken Blade Mountain so Absolute Sword City could take the initiative against the Otherworldly Demons. Bai Jinglong planned to recruit volunteers, while Chen Mu focused on cultivating and preparing to lead them.

• Elder Qing Xue rebuked Chen Mu for telling Bai Jinglong how to command his troops, but Bai Jinglong praised Chen Mu’s plan and explained that conscripted cultivators might refuse to defend Broken Blade Mountain.
• Chen Mu argued that a mobile force on Broken Blade Mountain would prevent the Otherworldly Demons from concentrating all their strength on a siege of Absolute Sword City.
• Bai Jinglong decided to post an official notice and proceed with the plan if enough people volunteered to defend Broken Blade Mountain.
• Chen Mu chose not to reveal his talisman artifacts, believing volunteers who came despite the danger would be more courageous and united, and he began cultivating to reach the True Spirit Realm.
• Chen Mu reflected that his abundant cultivation resources had made his martial progress less dependent on the Acala Heart Sutra, and that A Huo was far stronger than him in martial combat despite sharing his cultivation level.

Chen Mu broke through to the Early Stage of the True Spirit Realm, upgraded his flying ship, and researched how to make Demon Core Bombs. He suspected his Rune Core could make the bombs safer and easier to produce, but had not tested the idea before Bai Jinglong summoned him to the city lord's residence.

• Chen Mu condensed his Spiritual Qi into his first drop of spirit liquid and entered the Early Stage of the True Spirit Realm.
• Chen Mu added a Space Traversal Rune to his flying ship, giving it the ability to teleport within a hundred meters.
• Chen Mu tested a demon core with Spiritual Power, causing it to explode and inspiring him to study Demon Core Bombs.
• Chen Mu found that standard bomb-making methods were dangerous and unreliable, and theorized his Rune Core could precisely control the fusion and enable mass production.
• Bai Jinglong sent a guard to summon Chen Mu to the city lord's residence, and Chen Mu went to hear the important news.

After the spy revealed that 150,000 Otherworldly Demons would attack Absolute Sword City in seven days, Chen Mu persuaded Bai Jinglong that his plan to garrison Broken Blade Mountain could succeed with more than three hundred cultivators. Bai Jinglong appointed Chen Mu to lead the Sword Guardian Battalion, with Elder Qing Xue as military overseer, and Chen Mu prepared to set out the next morning.

• Bai Jinglong announced that the captured spy had revealed an army of 150,000 Otherworldly Demons would reach Absolute Sword City in seven days.
• Bai Jinglong returned Chen Mu's clairvoyance and told him that only a little over three hundred cultivators had joined the Broken Blade Mountain plan.
• Chen Mu assured Bai Jinglong that he had methods that would make the force sufficient, but kept those methods secret.
• Bai Jinglong named the recruits the Sword Guardian Battalion and placed them under Chen Mu's command, with Elder Qing Xue assisting as military overseer.
• Chen Mu accepted the appointment and said he would leave for Broken Blade Mountain the next morning to establish a stronghold.

Chen Mu gathered the 359 cultivators who had volunteered to defend Broken Blade Mountain and offered to surrender command if anyone defeated him, A Huo, or Mingye. Yin Zhan challenged A Huo, and after a fierce duel knocked A Huo’s sword away, leaving the fight’s outcome uncertain.

• Ye Yunxin introduced Chen Mu as the Sword Guardian Battalion’s commander and explained his role in planning the defense of Broken Blade Mountain.
• Chen Mu invited cultivators at the True Spirit Realm or above to challenge him, A Huo, or Mingye for command of the battalion.
• Yin Zhan leaped onto the platform and chose to fight A Huo, whom he recognized as a formidable opponent.
• A Huo and Yin Zhan traded powerful sword and spear attacks in a prolonged battle.
• Yin Zhan unleashed the Peerless Hegemon Spear, knocked A Huo’s sword from his hand, and sent him tumbling toward the edge of the platform.
• As everyone thought A Huo had lost, his sword abruptly stopped spinning through the air.

A Huo used the Sword Control Technique to defeat Yin Zhan, earning respect for Chen Mu’s group. Chen Mu then defeated Guo Tao and left the challengers with greater confidence in his leadership.

• A Huo overwhelmed Yin Zhan with the Sword Control Technique until Yin Zhan admitted defeat and pledged to cooperate in the war.
• Chen Mu invited more challengers, and the crowd grew quieter after seeing A Huo’s strength.
• Guo Tao challenged Chen Mu, explaining that he wanted a stronger leader for the Broken Blade Mountain plan because the Otherworldly Demons had killed his mother and scarred him.
• Chen Mu learned that Guo Tao’s friend was Kong Yu, an array master at the Third Layer of the Solid Realm.
• Chen Mu used Heart-Burning Flame, his staff, and an Instant Movement Talisman to defeat Guo Tao, who admitted defeat and left the platform.

Chen Mu led the Sword Guardian Battalion and hundreds of workers to Broken Blade Mountain to prepare defenses against the approaching Otherworldly Demon army. After three days of construction and experiments, he began introducing the battalion to their new talisman weapons.

• Chen Mu confirmed that no one else would challenge him and ordered the group to set out for Broken Blade Mountain.
• Chen Mu brought the Sword Guardian Battalion, workers, and supplies up the mountain, then ordered the workers to build defenses and A Huo to train the battalion.
• Chen Mu assigned Kong Yu to set up the mountain’s defensive formations and began researching Demon Core Bombs.
• After several days of experiments, Chen Mu told A Huo to prepare the battalion to learn how to use their talisman artifacts.
• Chen Mu demonstrated the Handheld Rune Cannon’s range scale and fired a shell at a target five hundred meters away, then invited the cultivators to try it.

Chen Mu introduced the Sword Guardian Battalion to his Handheld Rune Cannons, Rune Guns, and Rune Kui Automaton, then left A Huo to supervise further testing. Back at Broken Blade Mountain, he sent Mingye to buy demon cores and prepared to continue experimenting while keeping his weapon-making methods secret.

• Chen Mu divided the Sword Guardian Battalion into groups to test fifty Handheld Rune Cannons with dummy rounds, then live rounds, and the cultivators praised their power and accuracy.
• Chen Mu demonstrated sixty Rune Guns, explained their range and abilities, and let the battalion test them; he also showed them Rune Kui No. 2 and warned them not to attack it.
• Chen Mu left the rune weapons with A Huo and said he would return the next afternoon to assign weapons based on the test results.
• Chen Mu asked Mingye to discreetly buy more Demon Soldier-level demon cores because he had used nearly all of his supply.
• Chen Mu resolved to credit Elder Ming for his rune weapons and Demon Core Bombs to avoid drawing attention to his production methods, then asked Chen Duo to replace the spirit stones in the rune-making room.

Chen Mu strengthened Broken Blade Mountain’s defenses, organized the Sword Guardian Battalion, and watched the Otherworldly Demon vanguard approach Absolute Sword City. After ruling out a sneak attack, he prepared his forces for a battle expected the next day.

• Chen Mu praised Kong Yu’s work on the mountain’s overlapping formations and prepared to add Five Elements Talisman Flags and talisman puppets.
• Chen Mu divided the Sword Guardian Battalion into Cannon, Spear, Mobile, and Garrison Squads, led by Zheng Fengdao, A Huo, Yin Zhan, and Kong Yu.
• Elder Qing Xue told Chen Mu that the Otherworldly Demon vanguard had camped about twelve kilometers from Absolute Sword City.
• Chen Mu used his telescope to observe the roughly twenty-thousand-strong vanguard, including cavalry, Two-Winged Otherworldly Demons, and a Demon King-level expert, and abandoned plans for a sneak attack.
• Chen Mu recalled the troops training below the mountain and told the battalion to rest before the expected battle.
• Chen Mu analyzed the enemy’s possible routes with the battalion’s core members and concluded that Broken Blade Mountain could threaten any attack on Absolute Sword City’s west or south gates.

Chen Mu prepared the Sword Guardian Battalion to ambush the Otherworldly Demons while they attacked Absolute Sword City. As the siege turned into close combat, Chen Mu led more than three hundred cultivators toward the enemy transport wagons.

• Chen Mu explained the Broken Blade Mountain plan, warned the battalion to keep their Instant Movement Talismans close, and rallied them for their first battle.
• Chen Mu observed the 150,000-strong Otherworldly Demon army and identified its Giant Demons, Throwing Otherworldly Demons, Shaman Demons, and siege ladders.
• The Otherworldly Demons began their noon assault, and Bai Jinglong ordered the strong crossbow units to fire as the defenders faced the siege.
• Chen Mu confirmed the transport wagons' location with Chen Duo and led more than three hundred Sword Guardian Battalion cultivators out toward them.

Chen Mu’s Sword Guardian Battalion destroyed the Otherworldly Demon supply convoy with Handheld Rune Cannons, then retreated to a prepared stronghold on Broken Blade Mountain while fighting off pursuit. Bo Zhu ordered a retreat and notified Bo Mu after realizing the humans had planned the defense.

• Chen Mu ordered the cannon squad to bombard the Otherworldly Demon camp, destroying transport vehicles and supplies and killing workers.
• Bo Zhu charged toward the Sword Guardian Battalion, where Elder Qing Xue engaged him while Chen Mu directed the battalion’s fighting retreat.
• After Bo Zhu summoned more forces, Chen Mu led the battalion to Broken Blade Mountain, where gun squads and Rune Puppet No. 1 units covered their climb.
• Mingye raised curtains of seven-colored light across the mountain path, dissolving pursuing Otherworldly Demons as the battalion withdrew uphill.
• The garrison squad, gun squad, and Rune Puppet No. 1 units held the summit and turned the mountain path into a deadly bottleneck for the pursuing army.
• Bo Zhu recognized the humans’ prepared stronghold, ordered his troops to retreat, and notified Bo Mu.

After the Otherworldly Demons lost most of their supply shipment, Bo Mu led three Demon Kings to attack the protective array on Broken Blade Mountain. The attack was still underway when Bo Zhu was struck by two hidden bullets that exploded inside his mist form.

• Bo Mu ordered the Otherworldly Demon army to retreat after Bo Zhu reported that most of their supplies had been destroyed on Broken Blade Mountain.
• Chen Mu assessed the battle’s casualties and reported that the Sword Guardian Battalion had destroyed the transport vehicles and killed several thousand enemy soldiers.
• Bo Mu learned that a small human force had used powerful rune artifacts, then set out with three Demon Kings to investigate Broken Blade Mountain.
• Chen Mu warned Bai Jinglong that the Demon Kings were approaching, and Bai Jinglong rushed to reinforce the mountain while Elder Qing Xue prepared to defend it.
• The four Demon Kings attacked the mountain’s protective array, and Elder Qing Xue fought them while the array held firm.
• Bo Zhu used a mist-form defense against two hidden bullets, but they exploded inside his body.

After the Otherworldly Demons retreated from Broken Blade Mountain, Chen Mu warned Bai Jinglong about their likely next moves and learned that several human cities had already fallen. That evening, Chen Mu prepared more bombs and Elder Qing Xue asked whether Senior Brother Ming had made his talisman implements.

• Bai Jinglong and Xiang Fei helped force the Otherworldly Demons to retreat, and Bai Jinglong asked Chen Mu about the weapon that had injured Bo Zhu.
• Chen Mu declined to reveal his magical treasure, then obtained military funds from Bai Jinglong for the Sword Guardian Battalion’s spent spirit stones.
• Chen Mu warned Bai Jinglong that the demons might either launch an all-out assault on Absolute Sword City or attack Broken Blade Mountain, and Bai Jinglong reported that three human cities had fallen.
• Chen Mu explained that the demons were unlikely to choose either costly option and urged Bai Jinglong to prepare support if Broken Blade Mountain came under attack.
• Chen Mu made more bombs in the armory, where Elder Qing Xue asked whether Senior Brother Ming had made his talisman implements.

Chen Mu learned that the Otherworldly Demons were capturing humans for food and led the Sword Guardian Battalion to attack their camp. After the bombardment, the battalion was ambushed by elite demons, and A Huo charged forward to break through while Elder Qing Xue confronted two Demon Kings.

• Chen Mu told the Sword Guardian Battalion to wait before attacking because the Otherworldly Demons might be prepared for them.
• Chen Duo reported that Two-Winged Otherworldly Demons had brought captured humans back to their camp, and Chen Mu ordered the battalion to attack.
• The Cannon Squad bombarded the camp, and Chen Mu ordered the battalion to retreat after the third volley.
• Otherworldly Demons ambushed the battalion in the forest, while Elder Qing Xue confronted two Demon Kings.
• Chen Mu ordered A Huo and Yin Zhan to lead the escape, and A Huo charged into the enemy ranks with the Sword Control Technique.

Chen Mu led the Sword Guardian Battalion through the Otherworldly Demons’ encirclement and used Rune Puppet No. 1 units to reach Broken Blade Mountain. After a half-shichen rest, the battalion resumed guerrilla attacks, and Bai Jinglong warned that the demons would likely launch an all-out assault the next day.

• Yin Zhan and Chen Mu led the attack as the Sword Guardian Battalion fought through the elite demons, while Chen Mu wounded Bo Zhu with Rune Gun No. 3 fire.
• Chen Mu deployed Rune Puppet No. 1 units to break the encirclement and ambush the Two-Winged Otherworldly Demons, allowing the battalion to reach Broken Blade Mountain as Bo Zhu’s forces retreated.
• Chen Mu ordered the battalion to rest for half a shichen, then led those still able to fight back down the mountain to wage guerrilla warfare against the demon army.
• The Sword Guardian Battalion inflicted more than ten thousand casualties during the afternoon, while the battle for Absolute Sword City left fewer than ninety thousand demons and a little over sixty thousand defenders able to fight.
• Bai Jinglong praised Chen Mu and offered supplies, saying the Sword Guardian Battalion would be crucial when the Otherworldly Demons launched their likely all-out attack tomorrow.

Chen Mu led the diminished Sword Guardian Battalion through the Otherworldly Demons’ blockade to reach Absolute Sword City while its final assault began. As the battalion pressed forward and suffered casualties, Guo Tao unleashed his Blood Demon Disintegration Great Art to clear the way.

• Chen Mu ended his communication with Bai Jinglong, grieving the Sword Guardian Battalion’s losses and resolving to save Absolute Sword City.
• The Otherworldly Demons launched their final assault with nearly ninety thousand troops, while ten thousand spread out to block Chen Mu’s route from Broken Blade Mountain.
• Chen Mu used Chen Duo’s observations to find a path through the scattered enemy ranks and led the Sword Guardian Battalion toward the city, while Elder Qing Xue fought Demon King Mo Xiu.
• Guo Tao saw Old Xing killed, slew the Throwing Otherworldly Demon responsible, and kept fighting as the battalion came under pressure.
• Guo Tao activated the Blood Demon Disintegration Great Art and, with his greatly increased strength, cleared the way for the Sword Guardian Battalion to advance faster.

The Sword Guardian Battalion broke through the Otherworldly Demon blockade and bombarded the enemy’s main force, forcing Bo Mu to order a retreat. Bo Mu then pursued the battalion himself, but Chen Mu’s preparations and Mingye’s intervention helped them survive his attack as the battle continued.

• Kong Yu’s grief over Guo Tao’s fall unleashed his Divine Soul, killing hundreds of nearby Otherworldly Demons and giving the Sword Guardian Battalion a chance to break through.
• Chen Mu led the battalion behind the enemy’s main force, where the Cannon Squad fired Demon Core Bombs and shattered the Otherworldly Demons’ morale.
• Bo Mu killed deserters to stabilize the assault, then ordered the Devil Race to retreat when he judged that capturing Absolute Sword City was no longer possible.
• Bai Jinglong pursued the fleeing demons while Bo Mu abandoned his main force and charged toward the Sword Guardian Battalion, using a pill to accelerate past Bai Jinglong.
• Chen Mu’s prepared Instant Movement Talismans helped the battalion evade Bo Mu’s giant Devil Qi palms, but his ghostly hands still caught and injured some soldiers.
• Mingye dissolved a ghostly hand that threatened Chen Mu, then hurried to save the other battalion members.