Chapter Summaries

After Gu Yiyi left Qin Yi’s room, he learned the history behind Gu Yanshan’s resentment toward Gu Yanhe and Hua Yunfeng. Gu Yanshan intended to nurture Qin Yi so he could surpass Hua Yunfeng and prove the clan elders wrong.

• Gu Yiyi hurried back after Qin Yi teased her and warned that her father might discover where she had been.
• Qin Yi considered visiting Xu Xinran at Pine Cloud Peak while the medicine’s effects still burned within him.
• Qin Yi recalled Gu Yiyi’s account of how Gu Yanhe’s schemes had cost Gu Yanshan the sect master’s position and contributed to his wife’s death.
• Gu Yanshan had stayed at the Famous Sword Sect for his daughter’s sake, becoming an aloof elder at Emerald Bamboo Peak.
• Qin Yi realized Gu Yanshan planned to use his talent to help him surpass Hua Yunfeng and settle an old grudge against Gu Yanhe.

Qin Yi encountered Huang Tianrong and Nie Jianyun, then went to the Heaven-Reaching River, where he watched Gu Qingshuang and Xiao Qingyu practice swordplay. He recognized a flaw in Xiao Qingyu’s technique and offered her advice.

• Qin Yi made Huang Tianrong and Nie Jianyun greet him as their eldest senior brother.
• Huang Tianrong told Nie Jianyun he planned to have his cousin Song Xianming deal with Qin Yi when Song returned.
• Qin Yi went to the Heaven-Reaching River and saw Gu Qingshuang and Xiao Qingyu practicing the Jade Pivot Sword Art.
• Qin Yi learned that Gu Qingshuang was a candidate Daughter of Destiny and that Xiao Qingyu’s intended Dao companion was Shangguan Qing.
• After Gu Qingshuang left for Snow Maple Ridge, Qin Yi advised Xiao Qingyu to gather True Qi at the Lieque acupoint before each sword swing.

Qin Yi helped Xiao Qingyu improve her Jade Pivot Sword Art and learned that the coming Sword Debate for First Place had made most disciples reluctant to share their insights. He invited her to exchange swordsmanship with him and asked about her talent for linking moves.

• Xiao Qingyu followed Qin Yi’s advice to gather True Qi at the Lieque acupoint and found that her sword art drew a much broader line of water.
• Xiao Qingyu thanked Qin Yi, introduced herself as a disciple of Cold Plum Peak, and said she knew of him through Gu Qingshuang.
• Xiao Qingyu explained that the Famous Sword Sect’s Sword Debate for First Place would take place in two months, making disciples wary of sharing their techniques with potential rivals.
• Qin Yi invited Xiao Qingyu to exchange insights and praised how smoothly she linked her sword moves.
• Qin Yi asked Xiao Qingyu if she had any tricks for combining her sword moves so fluidly.

Qin Yi told Xiao Qingyu he mainly practiced the Heavenly Secrets Sword Technique and sparred with her, using their exchange to deepen her interest in him. Xiao Qingyu asked to spar again, while Qin Yi left her anticipating another meeting and primed to compare him with Shangguan Qing.

• Xiao Qingyu and Qin Yi discussed the upcoming Sword Debate for First Place, and Qin Yi said he would probably compete.
• Qin Yi told Xiao Qingyu that he mainly practiced the Heavenly Secrets Sword Technique, so they would not face each other in the same arena.
• Qin Yi and Xiao Qingyu exchanged more than seventy sword moves, and she sensed that the two sword arts shared techniques.
• Xiao Qingyu asked Qin Yi to spar with her again, and he left without promising to return, suggesting she could spar with Shangguan Qing instead.
• Qin Yi intended his vague answer and suggestion to make Xiao Qingyu anticipate him and compare Shangguan Qing's sparring with his.

Xiao Qingyu saw that Shangguan Qing’s swordsmanship failed to help her refine the insights Qin Yi had given her, while Qin Yi met Xu Xinran at Pine Cloud Peak and took her into a cave. The chapter left Qin Yi and Xu Xinran alone together, with Qin Yi making a move beyond the hug she had offered.

• Xiao Qingyu asked Shangguan Qing to spar, but he dismissed the idea that their sword techniques shared common ground.
• Shangguan Qing knocked Xiao Qingyu’s sword into the water after three moves and left for Snow Maple Ridge, leaving her discouraged.
• Qin Yi arrived at Pine Cloud Peak and met Xu Xinran as she collected water with other female disciples.
• Qin Yi embraced Xu Xinran and asked whether her master had questioned her about Song Xianming’s disappearance; she said her master had not pressed her.
• Xu Xinran led Qin Yi to a nearby cave for a hug, where he kissed her and lifted her skirt.

Xu Xinran and Qin Yi discussed keeping a child and Qin Yi taking responsibility, while he helped her recover with Qi Gathering Pills. After they parted, Qin Yi worried about the remaining effects of the Thousand-Control Pill and spotted a familiar, lonely figure by the river.

• Xu Xinran asked Qin Yi whether they would keep a child, and he promised they would and that he would acknowledge it as his.
• Qin Yi asked Xu Xinran for Qi Gathering Pills for Miao Xiufeng, then fed Xu Xinran two pills to help her recover.
• Xu Xinran left by sword near nightfall, still trembling from the effects of the Thousand-Control Pill.
• Qin Yi worried that the pill would remain effective for two more days, then noticed a familiar, graceful figure standing lonely by the river.

Qin Yi chose to compete in the Sword Debate for First Place with the Heavenly Secrets Sword Technique while hiding the Jade Pivot Sword Art, and he hoped to claim the overall title. After Gu Yanshan described the deadly Blood-Colored Forbidden Land as a possible path to a breakthrough, Qin Yi refused to enter it.

• Qin Yi left Xiao Qingyu alone by the river and returned to Emerald Bamboo Peak to meditate.
• Qin Yi told Gu Yanshan he would use the Heavenly Secrets Sword Technique in the Sword Debate and keep the Jade Pivot Sword Art hidden.
• Qin Yi declared that he wanted the overall sword chief title, while Gu Yanshan said he would be satisfied with a division title.
• Qin Yi explained that his Foundation Establishment Great Perfection might let him reach Golden Core within two months, and Gu Yanshan described the opportunities and dangers of the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land.
• Qin Yi decisively refused to enter the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land, and Gu Yanshan agreed that he should stay away.

Qin Yi found Xiao Qingyu upset after Shangguan Qing scolded her for repeatedly asking him to spar, and he comforted her by encouraging her chances in the Sword Debate for First Place. Xiao Qingyu’s affection for Qin Yi increased, and he invited her to spar again.

• After five days without seeing Xu Xinran, Qin Yi encountered a haggard Xiao Qingyu standing by the Heaven-Reaching River.
• Xiao Qingyu had left after Shangguan Qing scolded her for repeatedly asking him to spar, and she worried that her cultivation and swordsmanship would not be enough for the Sword Debate for First Place.
• Qin Yi went to the cave to meet Xu Xinran, but she was not there, so he returned to the river and spoke with Xiao Qingyu.
• Qin Yi encouraged Xiao Qingyu, telling her she could still compete for a branch sword champion title without reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Xiao Qingyu smiled and said Qin Yi felt like an old friend; her affection for him increased, and Qin Yi invited her to spar again.

Qin Yi taught Xiao Qingyu how to build up nine layers of force in the Jade Pivot Sword Art, and their sparring and hands-on practice raised her favorability toward him to 70. After avoiding her for several days, Qin Yi encountered her again by the river, where she sat hugging her feet with a vacant stare.

• Qin Yi sparred with Xiao Qingyu, lifting her spirits and making her realize Shangguan Qing had not been fully engaged when they practiced together.
• Qin Yi taught Xiao Qingyu a method for quickly accumulating nine layers of force in the Jade Pivot Sword Art, which he had learned from Gu Yanshan.
• Qin Yi guided Xiao Qingyu through the movements by holding her wrist, and she successfully gathered all nine layers of force.
• Xiao Qingyu requested several more hands-on lessons, and Qin Yi's favorability toward her rose to 70 as their interaction grew intimate.
• Qin Yi declined to meet Xiao Qingyu for the next two or three days, then encountered her by the river on the fourth day, sitting with a vacant stare.

Xiao Qingyu told Qin Yi she planned to enter the deadly Blood-Colored Forbidden Land alone, after interpreting his advice about affection as proof that Shangguan Qing found her annoying. After she left, Qin Yi considered following her, and the system assured him that his Ultimate Detection Technique could help him avoid danger there.

• Qin Yi learned that Xiao Qingyu wanted to enter the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land in hopes of gaining an opportunity and becoming stronger.
• Qin Yi told Xiao Qingyu that affection kept people from finding one another annoying, leading her to conclude that Shangguan Qing did not return her feelings.
• Xiao Qingyu decided to enter the forbidden land alone and asked Qin Yi to keep her plan secret if she died.
• Qin Yi wondered whether to follow Xiao Qingyu and asked the system about the forbidden land.
• The system told Qin Yi that his Ultimate Detection Technique could help him avoid danger, and he became eager to go.