Chapter Summaries

Xia Mengyao tried to explain why she had invited Lin Xuan to support the True Spirit Prince's Mansion, but Wang Xiao took offense and left hostile toward her. The other consorts celebrated their scheme and planned to use the Mansion Competition to keep Xia Mengyao from gaining influence.

• Wang Xiao grew angry when he heard Xia Mengyao had invited another helper after recruiting him for the Mansion Competition.
• The Thirteenth Consort accused Xia Mengyao of being deceived and resented her for gaining the lord's attention by finding Wang Xiao's needed spirit medicine.
• Xia Mengyao realized the consorts had deliberately spread news of her invitation to turn Wang Xiao against her, then apologized and explained Lin Xuan's strength and role in recovering the medicine.
• Wang Xiao sneered at Xia Mengyao and left, warning that her invited helper might not last a single round in the competition.
• The consorts mocked Xia Mengyao and resolved to use Wang Xiao's results and her helper's likely failure to block her rise, possibly driving her from the mansion.

The True Spirit Mansion Master upheld Xia Mengyao’s promised invitation to the Mansion Competition but warned her not to repeat the incident, leaving her hurt and resentful. Meanwhile, Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King entered the Taiyu Divine Dynasty and rushed toward a mountain where a treasure with soul-related Spiritual Qi had appeared.

• The consorts mocked Xia Mengyao for inviting outside help, while the True Spirit Mansion Master worried about offending Wang Xiao, the mansion’s powerful Half-Saint competitor.
• The True Spirit Mansion Master confirmed that Xia Mengyao could keep the promised competition spot, then told her there must be no next time; Xia Mengyao lowered her head and agreed.
• Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King arrived in the Taiyu Divine Dynasty and saw its powerful dragon Qi and flourishing fortune.
• Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King sensed a golden stream of Spiritual Qi rising from a mountain and recognized that a supreme treasure had emerged.
• The Vast Sea Saint King sensed that the treasure was connected to the soul, and he and Lin Xuan hurried toward it.

Dongfang Muxue secretly traveled to obtain the Nether Soul Saint Lingzhi, which could heal the soul damage she had hidden while competing for the Taiyu Divine Dynasty throne. When the treasure ripened early and alerted others, she rushed to its location, where Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King had already found two lingzhi plants and another group arrived.

• Dongfang Muxue endured three months of soul-shattering pain after an assassination attempt while concealing her injury from the Eldest Imperial Prince.
• Dongfang Muxue secretly set out with a small escort to claim the Nether Soul Saint Lingzhi and its companion grass for herself and her injured allies.
• The Nether Soul Saint Lingzhi ripened ahead of time, releasing a pillar of light that alerted nearby cultivators.
• Dongfang Muxue ordered her party to abandon their concealed flying boat and hurry to the treasure using Secret Techniques.
• Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King reached the Blackwater Swamp and found two Nether Soul Saint Lingzhi plants.
• Another group landed at the site, and Lin Xuan looked toward them without speaking.

Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King agreed to share the nether soul saint lingzhi with Dongfang Muxue, but the Eldest Imperial Prince’s forces ambushed them with a killing formation. The chapter ended as Elder Zhou took a sword meant for Dongfang Muxue.

• Dongfang Muxue proposed that each side harvest one nether soul saint lingzhi, and Lin Xuan agreed.
• An unseen enemy revealed that the Eldest Imperial Prince had used the lingzhi as bait to lure Dongfang Muxue out of the imperial capital.
• More than twenty powerful fighters serving the Eldest Imperial Prince surrounded the group and began forming a killing formation.
• An attacker struck at Dongfang Muxue, and Elder Zhou shoved her aside and took the sword through his chest.
• Dongfang Muxue cried out for Uncle Zhou as she saw him bleeding.

Hong Xi betrayed Dongfang Muxue and escaped from the sealed killing array, leaving Dongfang Muxue and her companions trapped. Lin Xuan shattered the array with one sword strike, but the two late Saint Realm brothers charged at him, determined to kill everyone.

• Hong Xi admitted she had her own difficulties, crushed a jade talisman, and escaped the array while Hong Fei discovered that the space was sealed.
• Dongfang Muxue and her retainers struggled against the Ten Directions Death-Dealing Array as their spiritual power rapidly drained.
• Lin Xuan told Dongfang Muxue the array could not hurt them, then broke it with a single sword strike.
• The array discs exploded and injured the experts outside, while the two late Saint Realm cultivators recognized Lin Xuan as a threat.
• The two brothers charged straight at Lin Xuan and declared that no one would leave alive.

Lin Xuan killed two late Saint Realm cultivators and Hong Xi while helping Dongfang Muxue, then left with the Vast Sea Saint King after they obtained the Nether Soul Saint Lingzhi. Dongfang Muxue ordered her party to keep the incident secret and set out to repay Lin Xuan without disturbing him.

• Lin Xuan killed the two late Saint Realm cultivators with a single sword strike, stunning Dongfang Muxue.
• Hong Xi tried to flee, but Lin Xuan pierced her with his sword, and Dongfang Muxue executed her for treason.
• The Vast Sea Saint King picked the Nether Soul Saint Lingzhi, and Lin Xuan said farewell before leaving with him.
• Dongfang Muxue ordered her companions to keep the incident secret and told Hong Fei to enter the Sea-Hiding Pavilion.
• Dongfang Muxue ordered her people to find Lin Xuan's whereabouts without disturbing him so she could repay his kindness.

Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King arrived at the True Spirit Prince's Mansion, where Xia Mengyao was stunned to recognize the legendary Saint King as a Sword Pavilion elder. While Lin Xuan searched the city for clues about Wang Yan, the Sword Pavilion, Ancestor Zhiruo, and the former head of the Supreme Institute, he discovered someone was tracking his movements and learned that the True Spirit Chamber of Commerce chairman had come to deliver a gift of thanks.

• Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King reached the True Spirit Prince's Mansion and met Xia Mengyao at the city entrance.
• Xia Mengyao recognized the Vast Sea Saint King, and Lin Xuan explained that he was now a supreme elder of the Sword Pavilion.
• Xia Mengyao escorted Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King to prepared guest rooms in the mansion.
• Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King searched the city for Wang Yan, other Sword Pavilion members, traces of Ancestor Zhiruo's soul, and the former head of the Supreme Institute, but found nothing.
• Lin Xuan noticed the teahouse proprietor rushing out to notify someone and waited to see who would come.
• Nie Haitong, chairman of the True Spirit Chamber of Commerce, arrived and told Lin Xuan that someone had entrusted him with a gift of thanks.

Lin Xuan accepted a lavish thank-you gift, then offered sword guidance to a talented youth who rejected him and defended his own master’s teachings. Meanwhile, the lord of the True Spirit Prince's Mansion worried over political turmoil and pinned his hopes for the Mansion Competition on Wang Tianjiao.

• The president of the True Spirit Chamber of Commerce delivered Lin Xuan a Storage Bag of resources on behalf of the princess he had saved, and Lin Xuan accepted it.
• Lin Xuan found a youth practicing swordsmanship in the mansion’s training grounds and recognized that the youth had copied someone else’s Sword Intent onto a flawed path.
• The youth mocked Lin Xuan’s advice, cited his master and Senior Wang of the Sword Ruins, and dismissed Lin Xuan as a retainer recruited by Xia Mengyao.
• The lord of the True Spirit Prince's Mansion read about the Eldest Imperial Prince’s men dying in the Kaiyang Prince's Mansion and worried that the political crisis could threaten his own mansion.
• The lord recalled Lin Xuan’s Great Emperor cultivation and decided the mansion would have to rely on the Half-Saint Wang Tianjiao in the Mansion Competition.

The True Spirit Mansion Master received Commander Liu Kuo, a late Saint Realm expert from Princess Muxue’s residence, and wondered why the princess had taken an interest in his declining mansion. Liu explained that Princess Muxue wanted the mansion to visit the imperial capital more often and had sent gifts for an honored guest.

• The True Spirit Mansion Master learned that people from Princess Muxue’s residence had arrived and hurried to the main hall.
• The True Spirit Mansion Master recognized Commander Liu Kuo and greeted him with a bow.
• Commander Liu Kuo said he had come on Princess Muxue’s orders and conveyed her request that the True Spirit Prince’s Mansion visit the imperial capital more often.
• Commander Liu Kuo mentioned that the princess had heard an honored guest was staying at the mansion and had sent modest gifts for him.

Commander Liu delivered the princess’s treasures and request to the True Spirit Mansion Master, who could not identify the honored guest and ordered Wang Xiao and Lin Xuan to be treated equally well. Meanwhile, Lin Xuan bought gifts for his absent disciples and confronted Commander Liu, who revealed that Lin Xuan’s companion spiritual herbs had helped him and his colleagues recover.

• Commander Liu gave the True Spirit Mansion Master a royal Storage Bag filled with precious treasures and said the princess wanted him to entertain an honored guest.
• The True Spirit Mansion Master failed to determine whether Wang Xiao or Lin Xuan was the guest, so he ordered both to receive the highest courtesy.
• Lin Xuan bought a Nether Flame Feather Robe for Wang Yan, an Azure Vine Sword Case for Lianxin, and spiritual herbs for Demon Beasts.
• Lin Xuan confronted the figure who had followed him for days and recognized him as Commander Liu, a Saint Realm cultivator from Blackwater Swamp.
• Commander Liu said the companion spiritual herbs Lin Xuan had left behind helped him and his colleagues recover, while he wondered at Lin Xuan’s true strength.

Commander Liu invited Lin Xuan to explore the Dark Orchid Secret Realm on behalf of Dongfang Muxue, and Lin Xuan accepted after learning it contained traces of a broken sword. Lin Xuan prepared to depart the next day, while the Vast Sea Saint King declined to join him.

• Commander Liu told Lin Xuan that Dongfang Muxue had offered him an entry slot in the Dark Orchid Secret Realm and mentioned that a sacred sword remnant found there would be a prize in the coming Mansion Competition.
• Lin Xuan weighed the risks of being associated with Dongfang Muxue's faction against the chance to find the broken sword and agreed to go.
• Commander Liu said the flying boat would leave for the Dark Orchid Secret Realm the next day, and Lin Xuan arranged to meet him at the moorings.
• Lin Xuan asked the Vast Sea Saint King to join the expedition, but the Vast Sea Saint King declined because the secret realm's sword inheritance and bloodline formations did not suit him.

Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King agreed to split up so the King could recover and visit old acquaintances in the Taiyu Divine Dynasty. Meanwhile, Dongfang Muxue opened the Dark Orchid Secret Realm to strengthen her faction before the Mansion Competition, but an unexpected choice among the explorers caused an uproar.

• The Vast Sea Saint King told Lin Xuan that his injuries were slowly improving and that he wanted to visit old friends or their descendants in the Taiyu Divine Dynasty.
• Lin Xuan and the Vast Sea Saint King agreed to split up, with Lin Xuan urging him to prioritize his life and send word if anything happened.
• The Eldest Imperial Prince recruited three Saint Realm experts, and his prodigy Xue Yan broke through to the Saint Realm at age thirty-five, alarming Dongfang Muxue's faction.
• Dongfang Muxue asked her guardian Great Saint to open the Dark Orchid Secret Realm, a place formed from the sword immortal's destruction of the Mingli Divine Dynasty.
• The princess's faction prepared its prodigies to explore the secret realm, but an unfamiliar name appeared among the three chosen candidates and provoked an uproar.

Dugu Yun confronted Dongfang Muxue over losing his place in the Dark Orchid Secret Realm and challenged Lin Xuan to a contest. Lin Xuan declined, but when Dugu Yun insulted him, Lin Xuan released overwhelming pressure that forced him to his knees.

• Dugu Yun drank with Wan Hao and Ji Yanbai, lamenting that Lin Xuan had taken his place in the Dark Orchid Secret Realm.
• Wan Hao and Ji Yanbai urged Dugu Yun to demand an explanation from Dongfang Muxue, and the three went to the princess's residence.
• Lin Xuan told Dongfang Muxue he had come from the Sword Pavilion to seek someone connected to the secret realm, but her records revealed little about the sword immortal associated with it.
• Dugu Yun barged in and accused Dongfang Muxue of unfairly giving his place to Lin Xuan, whom he believed was only a Great Emperor.
• Dongfang Muxue said Lin Xuan was stronger than Dugu Yun, and Dugu Yun challenged Lin Xuan to a contest for the secret-realm spot.
• Lin Xuan declined to fight, but after Dugu Yun insulted him, Lin Xuan's pressure crushed the room and forced Dugu Yun to his knees in terror.

Lin Xuan subdued Dugu Yun with a trace of pressure, leaving him too shaken to tell Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao what had happened. Two days later, Lin Xuan joined Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao as they teleported to the Dark Orchid Secret Realm.

• Lin Xuan’s pressure nearly crushed Dugu Yun, who abandoned his challenge and left the princess’s residence in a daze.
• Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao found Dugu Yun withdrawn, but he refused to explain what had happened and sent them away.
• Two days later, Dongfang Muxue warned Lin Xuan, Ji Yanbai, and Wan Hao to put their lives first before they entered the Dark Orchid Secret Realm.
• Ji Yanbai advised Lin Xuan to stay close to him and Wan Hao, offering to protect him from danger.
• The teleportation formation filled with the sharp fragrance and Sword Intent of dark orchids, and the three arrived in the Dark Orchid Secret Realm.

Lin Xuan, Ji Yanbai, and Wan Hao explored the Dark Orchid Secret Realm and found the ruined capital of a divine dynasty destroyed by a sword immortal. Lin Xuan recognized the Sword Qi as likely belonging to Ancestor Zhiruo, but its lack of any trace of her suggested she might still be alive and had left the realm.

• Ji Yanbai warned Lin Xuan not to touch the ancient corpses, their Storage Bags, or the dark orchids because hidden Sword Qi could kill them.
• Lin Xuan sensed that the Sword Qi resonated with the Lin Household bloodline and concluded it had likely been left by Ancestor Zhiruo.
• Ji Yanbai, Wan Hao, and Lin Xuan reached the ruined center of the secret realm and saw the sword scar that had destroyed the divine dynasty.
• Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao urged everyone to cultivate beneath the Sword Qi before the realm became dangerous after three days.
• Lin Xuan found no trace of Ancestor Zhiruo and wondered whether she was still alive and had left the secret realm.

Lin Xuan spent three days contemplating the Dark Orchid Secret Realm while wondering whether Ancestor Zhiruo was still alive. When the realm’s tokens awakened the others, Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao believed Lin Xuan had gained nothing and asked if he had failed to comprehend even a trace.

• Lin Xuan wondered where Ancestor Zhiruo was and resolved to make finding her his most important task.
• Lin Xuan surveyed the secret realm with his Divine Sense, found dangerous opportunities, and then sank into contemplation.
• After three days, the secret realm tokens grew hot and awakened Lin Xuan, Ji Yanbai, and Wan Hao.
• Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao realized they had absorbed spiritual power and dragon Qi and advanced close to breaking through to the Saint Realm.
• Seeing no apparent change in Lin Xuan, Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao concluded that his cultivation had made no progress.
• Wan Hao asked Lin Xuan whether he had failed to gain even a trace of insight.

Lin Xuan secretly collected fragments of his ancestor Zhiruo’s broken sword in the Dark Orchid Secret Realm, while Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao mistook his lack of visible gains for incompetence. After they returned, Dongfang Muxue offered Lin Xuan a chance to compete on behalf of the True Spirit Prince’s Mansion, and he agreed to honor his promise.

• Lin Xuan told Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao that the secret realm’s insights and cultivation methods were too low-grade to help him, while privately reflecting on the broken sword fragments he had collected.
• Lin Xuan realized the fragments belonged to his ancestor Zhiruo’s sword and believed he would need to win the Mansion Competition to obtain its hilt and restore it.
• Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao dismissed Lin Xuan as a fraud, then left the secret realm when their tokens signaled that the teleportation array had opened.
• Back at the princess’s residence, Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao hurried home to digest their gains, while Lin Xuan told Dongfang Muxue he had not found what he sought.
• Dongfang Muxue offered Lin Xuan the chance to compete for the True Spirit Prince’s Mansion, and he accepted; the Mansion Competition was due to begin in three days.

The Sixteen Princes' Mansions gathered in the imperial capital for a competition that would decide their rankings and shape the power struggle between the Eldest Princess and the Eldest Imperial Prince. As Lin Xuan watched from the True Spirit Prince's Mansion's position, the first match was announced: Zhou Qiao against Chu Nanyue, prodigies from opposing sides.

• The imperial capital filled with contestants, spectators, and gamblers as the Mansion Competition drew near.
• Experts established a powerful arena in the northern imperial capital, and representatives of the Sixteen Princes' Mansions took their places.
• The True Spirit Mansion Master worried about his mansion's ranking, while Lin Xuan remained confident in his strength.
• Xia Huanchao mocked Lin Xuan and eagerly anticipated seeing the Sword Ruins prodigy Wang Xiao compete.
• The competition began with the announcement of Zhou Qiao of the Profound Radiance Prince's Estate versus Chu Nanyue of the Great Prosperity Prince's Estate, prompting an uproar because they represented opposing political sides.

Chu Nanyue defeated Zhou Qiao in the Mansion Competition’s opening match, revealing that he had reached the Perfected Half-Saint realm. His victory gave the Eldest Imperial Prince an early lead and left the spectators astonished by Chu Nanyue’s rise.

• Zhou Qiao looked down on Chu Nanyue and urged him to concede, while Chu Nanyue calmly said their latest fight might end differently.
• At the referee’s command, Chu Nanyue moved with unexpected speed and struck Zhou Qiao before he could respond.
• Chu Nanyue blasted Zhou Qiao off the platform, winning their match.
• The spectators realized Chu Nanyue was a Perfected Half-Saint, and Zhou Qiao accepted that he had lost in both the match and their cultivation gap.
• The referee declared Chu Nanyue the winner, and the spectators predicted that the Eldest Imperial Prince would give him greater support.

The Eldest Imperial Prince’s faction took the first two Mansion Competition matches, as Chu Nanyue defeated Zhou Qiao and Sikong Sheng swiftly defeated Liang Qi. Dongfang Muxue grew increasingly uneasy as the prince’s strength appeared far greater than she had expected.

• Dongfang Muxue watched Zhou Qiao’s defeat and worried that Chu Nanyue would become another powerful asset for the Eldest Imperial Prince.
• The Eldest Imperial Prince dismissed Dongfang Muxue and resolved that he alone would inherit the divine dynasty.
• The officials announced the second match between Liang Qi of the Forgotten River Prince's Mansion and Sikong Sheng of the Yaoguang Prince's Estate, prompting speculation about the ruler’s matchups.
• Xia Huanchao boasted that Liang Qi had comprehended seventh-level sword intent, but Sikong Sheng defeated Liang Qi with one move and knocked him from the arena.
• Sikong Sheng mocked the princess’s faction and claimed victory, deepening Dongfang Muxue’s suspicion that the Eldest Imperial Prince’s forces were stronger than her intelligence suggested.