Chapter Summaries

The Princess's Mansion suffered defeat after defeat in the Mansion Competition, leaving Ji Yanbai as its final hope. Xue Yan crushed him in a single exchange, leaving the competition's outcome grim for Dongfang Muxue's side.

• Dongfang Muxue watched the Princess's Mansion prodigies lose every match against the Eldest Imperial Prince's fighters.
• Ji Yanbai entered the Saint Realm after returning from the secret realm, and the Princess's Mansion pinned its hopes on him.
• The referee matched Ji Yanbai against Xue Heng of the Northern Dipper Prince's Mansion, whom the narration identified as Xue Yan.
• Ji Yanbai charged at Xue Yan with a killing move, confident that his Saint Realm cultivation and saint technique would secure victory.
• Xue Yan dodged Ji Yanbai's attack, shattered his Saint Domain with a blow, and kicked him out of the arena in a single breath.

Wang Xiao entered the arena as the True Spirit Prince's Mansion's seemingly favored contestant, but he immediately conceded to Jiang Yuan. His surrender left the mansion competition's outcome—and the hopes of the Princess's Mansion and the True Spirit Prince's Mansion—uncertain.

• The eldest prince declared that he had won the mansion competition and urged Dongfang Muxue to dissolve the Princess's Mansion.
• Dongfang Muxue rejected his certainty and pointed to the True Spirit Prince's Mansion as a reason the contest was not over.
• The tenth match was announced between Wang Xiao of the True Spirit Prince's Mansion and Jiang Yuan of the Profound Ancient Prince's Mansion.
• The True Spirit Prince's Mansion's lord and Xia Huanchao expected Wang Xiao to defeat Jiang Yuan and preserve their mansion's standing.
• Wang Xiao entered the arena and unexpectedly announced that he conceded.

Wang Xiao conceded his match to Jiang Yuan and revealed that he had secretly pledged allegiance to the eldest prince, leaving Dongfang Muxue's faction reeling as many supporters defected. Dongfang Muxue refused to concede, pointing out that someone from the True Spirit Prince's Mansion still had yet to fight.

• Wang Xiao conceded to Jiang Yuan without fighting, and the referee declared Jiang Yuan the winner of the tenth match.
• Wang Xiao mocked the True Spirit Palace Lord and said he had belonged to the eldest prince from the start, while the eldest prince taunted Dongfang Muxue.
• Qi Mu, Gong Ling, Qian Duanxue, and others defected from Dongfang Muxue's side and urged her to concede.
• Dongfang Muxue rejected the defectors' pleas and remained composed despite their betrayal.
• Dongfang Muxue told the eldest prince the competition was not over because someone from the True Spirit Prince's Mansion had yet to fight.

Dongfang Muxue named Lin Xuan as the honored guest she had summoned, while Wang Xiao and the Eldest Imperial Prince mocked him for his Great Emperor Realm cultivation. Lin Xuan defeated the Saint Realm prodigy Xue Yan with one sword, leaving the Eldest Imperial Prince shocked and Wang Xiao regretting his betrayal.

• Dongfang Muxue asked Lin Xuan to help her, revealing that he—not Wang Xiao—was her honored guest.
• Wang Xiao and the Eldest Imperial Prince mocked Lin Xuan's cultivation, but Lin Xuan stepped onto the platform to fight.
• The match was announced as Lin Xuan versus Xue Yan, and the Eldest Imperial Prince signaled Xue Yan to kill him.
• Lin Xuan unleashed a terrifying sword strike that shattered Xue Yan's defenses and sent him off the platform gravely wounded.
• The Eldest Imperial Prince was shaken by Lin Xuan's swordsmanship, while Wang Xiao realized his betrayal had cost him the chance to follow a swordsman he could never surpass.

Lin Xuan defeated Wang Xiao with one sword strike, securing a win for the True Spirit Prince's Mansion and revealing his overwhelming Sword Intent. The Eldest Imperial Prince recognized Lin Xuan as Dongfang Muxue's trump card, then sneered that he had one of his own.

• Lin Xuan's sword strike overwhelmed Wang Xiao, leaving Xia Huanchao regretting his earlier rejection of Lin Xuan's guidance.
• Ji Yanbai and Wan Hao realized Lin Xuan's strength explained Dugu Yun's despair and that Lin Xuan's claims about the Dark Orchid Secret Realm had been true.
• The referee declared Lin Xuan the winner of the eleventh match, and the lord of the True Spirit Prince's Mansion celebrated the reversal of their fortunes.
• The Eldest Imperial Prince recognized Lin Xuan as Dongfang Muxue's hidden trump card and wondered how she had enlisted him.
• The Eldest Imperial Prince steadied himself and sneered that he also had a trump card.

Lin Xuan swept through the eldest prince’s fighters, shifting the mansion competition in Princess Dongfang Muxue’s favor. The contest took a dramatic turn when Xu Yan, the Great Saint’s son, entered the arena to face Lin Xuan.

• The eldest prince watched as Lin Xuan defeated each of his fighters with a single stroke, driving many opponents to concede without fighting.
• Former retainers who had defected from the princess’s mansion regretted their choice as the odds turned against the eldest prince.
• The referee announced that Lin Xuan’s next opponent was Xu Yan of the Changyuan Prince’s Mansion.
• The crowd recognized Xu Yan as Great Saint Xu’s only son and a once-renowned prodigy who had spent twenty years in seclusion.
• Xu Yan stepped into the arena and revealed that he had reached the middle stage of the Saint Realm before the age of fifty.

Lin Xuan faced Xu Yan, whose Saint Realm cultivation and saint art seemed to make victory certain, but Lin Xuan revealed a complete Sword Domain that overwhelmed the arena. Xu Yan’s expression changed as the domain’s power spread around them.

• Xu Yan acknowledged Lin Xuan’s extraordinary strength but said their cultivation gap made a fair match impossible.
• Xu Yan unleashed the saint art created by Great Saint, filling the arena with blinding light and immense pressure.
• Lin Xuan waited for Xu Yan’s attack, then activated his Sword Domain, sending black-and-white yin-yang fish through the saint art’s radiance.
• Lin Xuan’s Sword Qi broke Xu Yan’s pressure and spread throughout the arena, astonishing the Sword Dao practitioners watching below.
• Xu Yan’s expression changed when he saw Lin Xuan’s complete, fully controlled Sword Domain.

Lin Xuan revealed a sword domain and defeated Xu Yan with a single strike, shocking everyone who witnessed the battle. Xu Yan conceded and left to pursue his Dao, while the Eldest Imperial Prince was left in despair and the crowd realized the Taiyu Divine Dynasty’s future might change.

• Lin Xuan’s sword domain shocked Wang Xiao and the spectators, while Xia Huanchao regretted rejecting Lin Xuan’s guidance and coughed up blood from anguish.
• Lin Xuan struck Xu Yan off the platform, leaving him wounded but alive through mercy.
• Xu Yan conceded, thanked Lin Xuan, and realized the defeat had rekindled his ambition.
• Xu Yan told the Eldest Imperial Prince to find someone more capable and left without hesitation.
• The Eldest Imperial Prince watched Xu Yan leave in despair as the spectators wondered who Lin Xuan was and what his strength could be.

After the Mansion Competition, Dongfang Muxue gained support while Lin Xuan claimed the reward he had sought: the broken sword’s hilt. He examined the gathered fragments but could not restore the sword, leaving him unsure how to proceed.

• The Eldest Imperial Prince left after his defeat, while the other factions began choosing sides and Dongfang Muxue received a stream of supporters.
• Lin Xuan turned away visitors seeking to approach him or the Princess's Mansion.
• The True Spirit Mansion Master celebrated the mansion’s first-place finish, and Dongfang Muxue took responsibility for demanding compensation from the Emotion-Extinguishing Sword Sect over Wang Xiao’s misconduct.
• Lin Xuan examined the sword hilt and every fragment of its blade, which he had received as the competition reward.
• Lin Xuan tried several times to join the fragments with spiritual power, but the sword’s residual sword Qi nearly injured his divine soul, and he realized he lacked the artifact-refining knowledge to restore it.

After his attempt to study the broken sword fragments stalled, Lin Xuan accepted Dongfang Muxue’s invitation to a banquet. She asked him to expound the Dao at the Great Cosmos Holy Academy in exchange for access to its Sword Pool and the chance to take a gifted genius as his disciple, and Lin Xuan agreed.

• Lin Xuan put aside the broken sword fragments after finding no suitable artifact refiner to examine them.
• Lin Xuan accepted Dongfang Muxue’s invitation and attended her banquet at the princess’s residence.
• After the guests left, Dongfang Muxue told Lin Xuan that the Taiyu Divine Dynasty controlled a small world containing the Great Cosmos Holy Academy, which had produced many powerful cultivators, including two Great Saints.
• Dongfang Muxue explained that the Academy’s Sword Pool held statues embodying the Sword Dao of generations of Taiyu sword cultivators, and offered Lin Xuan access if he expounded the Dao there.
• Dongfang Muxue added that Lin Xuan could take an exceptionally gifted Academy genius as his disciple if both agreed, and Lin Xuan accepted her invitation.

Wang Yan, a talented disciple at the Great Cosmos Holy Academy, entered the dangerous Stele Forest after the academy’s officials withheld resources he needed to keep his fiancée, Li Hong, alive. He hoped to grow strong enough to win the new student tournament and claim a cure from the academy treasury, though entering the forest could cost him his life or his aptitude.

• Wang Yan endured ostracism and the loss of cultivation resources after refusing to become a Holy Master’s enforcer or take a master at the academy.
• Wang Yan recalled how Li Hong had supported him in the Profound Domain and explained that he had saved her after demon beasts gravely injured her in the Desolate Wood Forest.
• Wang Yan decided he needed the Stele Forest’s treasures to reach the Thearch Realm and win access to the academy treasury’s cure for Li Hong.
• Wang Yan cut his palm to activate the entrance and entered the Stele Forest, accepting the risk of death or ruined aptitude.

Dongfang Muxue brought Lin Xuan to the Great Cosmos Holy Academy to preach the Sword Dao, but the saint teachers doubted that a Great Emperor from the Primordial Holy Heaven could be a true expert. Lin Xuan accepted the dean’s offer to open the Sword Pool and was eager to investigate the swords’ response to his arrival.

• The academy’s saint teachers gathered in its isolated pavilion to welcome Dongfang Muxue, who had won the right to enter the small world.
• Dongfang Muxue arrived with Lin Xuan and introduced him as the Sword Dao expert who would preach to the academy’s students.
• Dongfang Muxue asked the dean to open the Sword Pool so Lin Xuan could study there for three days before preaching.
• The saint teachers were angered and skeptical when they learned Lin Xuan was a Great Emperor from the Primordial Holy Heaven.
• The dean agreed to open the Sword Pool while its Sword Qi was weakest, and Lin Xuan accepted immediately after sensing the broken swords stir in response to him.

Lin Xuan followed the dean and Dongfang Muxue to the Sword Pool, while the academy’s holy teachers resented the princess for choosing a Great Emperor to preach to them. They found the Pool’s Sword Intent raging beyond the dean’s power to suppress, and Lin Xuan considered activating the formation himself.

• After Lin Xuan agreed to preach the Dao, the dean led him and Dongfang Muxue to the Sword Pool.
• The holy teachers complained that Dongfang Muxue had insulted them by bringing a Great Emperor instead of recognizing their own expertise, and one vowed to judge Lin Xuan’s lecture in three days.
• Lin Xuan saw that the Sword Pool contained countless swords and fierce Sword Intent sealed behind defensive formations.
• The dean explained that the Sword Intent was unusually berserk despite the full moon and that he could not activate enough of the twelve phantom swords to suppress it.
• Lin Xuan asked whether unleashing his Sword Intent on the formation could light the phantom swords and open the Sword Pool.

Lin Xuan tested his sword against the Sword Pool’s formation wall, which the dean believed no one could fully awaken. Lin Xuan lit all twelve sword shadows with one strike, leaving the dean stunned by his strength.

• The dean explained that activating the Sword Pool’s sword shadows was difficult and lighting them all was nearly impossible.
• The dean assumed Lin Xuan would fail to light even one shadow and let him try.
• Lin Xuan struck the formation wall with his sword, unleashing a burst of spiritual power.
• All twelve sword shadows lit up steadily after Lin Xuan’s single strike.
• The dean realized Lin Xuan’s Sword Intent surpassed that of a Sword Domain expert and understood why the princess had invited him to expound the Dao.

Lin Xuan entered the Sword Pool and faced the countless ancient Sword Intents gathered there, then spent three days in seclusion. When he emerged, hostile holy teachers were preparing to confront him over his upcoming Dao lecture.

• The dean silently accepted Dongfang Muxue’s decision to bring Lin Xuan into the Sword Pool after realizing she had trusted his strength.
• Lin Xuan explored the Sword Pool and examined sword traces left by powerful cultivators from the Taiyu Divine Dynasty and beyond.
• As the Sword Qi surged toward him, Lin Xuan drew his sword, calmed the Sword Pool with one stroke, and announced that he had come to discuss the sword.
• Lin Xuan emerged from three days of seclusion without incident.
• Holy teachers who had spread news of Lin Xuan’s lecture gathered eagerly, intending to challenge and humiliate him.

Lin Xuan began expounding the Sword Dao at the Great Cosmos Holy Academy while students and holy teachers doubted his qualifications. As he argued that sword cultivators should master more than nine Sword Daos to return to simplicity and truth, the audience reacted with scorn.

• Students at the Great Cosmos Holy Academy mocked Lin Xuan and praised Senior Brother Shi, while Wu Qing chose to enter the hall and hear the discourse.
• Lin Xuan watched students and hostile holy teachers gather, including a holy teacher with a Half-Step Sword Domain who planned to suppress him with Sword Intent.
• Lin Xuan began his discourse, teaching that sword cultivators should forge ahead fearlessly, remain adaptable, and avoid clinging to individual moves and forms.
• The holy teachers dismissed Lin Xuan's opening principles as obvious and impractical.
• Lin Xuan claimed that comprehending more than nine Sword Daos could bring enlightenment and a chance to return to simplicity and truth, provoking further disbelief.

Lin Xuan faced the Holy Masters’ disbelief about his claim to have comprehended many sword Daos by demonstrating the Annihilation Sword Dao. The Holy Masters recognized his sword intent and were left stunned by his control over it.

• The Holy Masters mocked Lin Xuan’s claim that he had comprehended forty-nine Great Daos and gained insights from senior sword cultivators in the Sword Pool.
• Holy Master Gong challenged Lin Xuan, citing his own eighteen hundred years of cultivation and mastery of only three sword Daos.
• Lin Xuan calmly offered to demonstrate the sword he had comprehended during his three days in the Sword Pool.
• Lin Xuan drew his sword and released terrifying sword Qi that made the students and Holy Masters recoil in fear.
• The Holy Masters recognized Lin Xuan’s sword intent as the Annihilation Sword Dao and were astonished that he controlled its killing intent so precisely.

Lin Xuan silenced the Holy Masters by demonstrating thirty-seven supreme sword intents and unveiling his own sword domain, Edgeless. He asked whether he could now sit and expound the Dao, leaving Holy Master Gong and the others stunned by the gulf between their abilities.

• Lin Xuan used great sun sword intent to dispel the annihilation sword intent and astounded the Holy Masters.
• Lin Xuan demonstrated thirty-seven kinds of sword intent, including those of several renowned Sword Saints.
• Lin Xuan named his own sword intent Edgeless and unleashed a sword domain that overwhelmed everyone present.
• Holy Master Gong realized Lin Xuan's sword domain surpassed the Taiyu Divine Dynasty Sword Saint's and regretted his earlier arrogance.
• Lin Xuan put away his sword and asked the Holy Masters whether he could sit and expound the Dao.

Lin Xuan delivered a Sword Dao discourse at the Great Cosmos Holy Academy, answering questions and helping instructors and students gain insights and breakthroughs. After Wu Qing asked whether someone with poor talent could cultivate the Sword Dao, Lin Xuan recognized her sword heart and gave her a pair of supreme-grade Emperor Weapons, a Sword Dao cultivation method, and a Sword Pavilion jade token, leaving her with a chance to seek him out as his disciple.

• The holy instructors apologized to Lin Xuan and asked him to guide them, and he agreed to deliver a discourse and answer questions.
• Lin Xuan’s explanations gave the instructors and students new insights, and several cultivators began breakthroughs during the discourse.
• Wu Qing asked Lin Xuan whether someone without sufficient talent could cultivate the Sword Dao, and he answered that a strong sword heart could overcome poor aptitude.
• Lin Xuan recognized Wu Qing’s perseverance and gave her two supreme-grade Emperor Weapons, the Saint Realm True Explanation of Sword Dao, and a Sword Pavilion jade token.
• Wu Qing thanked Lin Xuan tearfully and promised to master what he had taught her.

After a day of Lin Xuan’s Dao lecture, Liu Xing broke through his long-standing barrier and told Shi Qingyan’s circle that Senior Lin’s teaching had transformed his Sword Dao. His companions, who had mocked the lecture, were left questioning whether Lin Xuan was the princess’s guest.

• Lin Xuan lectured on the Dao from sunrise to sunset, and students and Holy Masters became absorbed in his teaching.
• Shi Qingyan and the other prodigies mocked Lin Xuan’s lecture while drinking at Floating Cloud Hall.
• Liu Xing arrived and stunned the group by revealing that he had broken through.
• Liu Xing credited Senior Lin’s lecture for his sudden enlightenment and seventh-level sword intent, saying he believed eighth-level sword intent was now within reach.
• One of the prodigies asked whether Senior Lin was the man invited by the princess.