Chapter Summaries

At Zhou Wuji’s initiation and talisman investiture in the North Pole Heavenly Emperor Hall, a pillar of azure stellar power descended, visibly confirming the Northern Emperor’s blessing to the assembled observers. As everyone reacted to the divine power, Zhou Wuji used the moment to gather the statue’s accumulated wishes and began pouring them into the Xiaoxiang Sword.

• Leng Wuyou reunited with Yue Wuying and Zhang Qingning, then explained the ceremony as the guests gathered in the hall.
• Zhang Qingning introduced several prominent guests, while Leng Wuyou defended Zhou Wuji’s swordsmanship and Yue Wuying noted that Daoist True Persons had come to test the reported blessing.
• Lu Zhitong warned the guests to remain silent, and True Person Zhiyun began Zhou Wuji’s initiation and talisman investiture.
• After receiving the Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Primordial Qi Scripture Talisman, Zhou Wuji opened the Heavenly Gate and resonated with the Big Dipper Star Domain.
• Azure stellar power descended onto the North Pole Heavenly Emperor statue and Zhou Wuji, overwhelming many onlookers and leaving the Third Rank True Persons visibly impressed.
• Zhou Wuji drew on the statue’s gathered wishes, transformed them into purple light with the Northern Emperor’s Book of Heavenly Punishment, and poured them into the Xiaoxiang Sword.

During the Northern Emperor’s initiation and register-conferral ceremony, Zhou Wuji advanced the Xiaoxiang Sword to Divine Tier, formed a Sword Soul, and broke through to Fourth Rank. The stellar blessing faded as True Person Zhiyun presented him to the gathered guests, who regarded him with awe and curiosity.

• Zhou Wuji used the descending starlight and the North Pole Heavenly Emperor’s statue to raise the Xiaoxiang Sword to Divine Tier and condense its Sword Soul.
• The Sword Soul integrated the five branches of the Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword, letting Zhou Wuji glimpse the Northern Pole Sword’s transformations.
• Zhou Wuji sent the Sword Soul to his Changqiang aperture and opened Huangzeng Heaven, breaking through from Fifth Rank to Fourth Rank.
• True Person Zhiyun, the other True Persons, and the guests reacted with surprise and reverence as the Northern Emperor’s Blessing faded.
• True Person Zhiyun praised Zhou Wuji’s good fortune, reminded him to uphold the commandments, and led him to meet the distinguished guests.

After receiving the Northern Emperor's blessing and advancing to the fourth rank, Zhou Wuji celebrated with guests and assessed his improved cultivation. He discovered that his sword soul could reshape Law Techniques and resolved to obtain the Tianshu Secret Method while Lu Zhijing was still in Yunyang.

• Leng Yiming brought Leng Wuyou back to Lingyun Upper Court and warned her not to compete with Zhou Wuji at the Jingyang Dharma Assembly.
• Zhou Wuji socialized with distinguished guests, including Huo Dongling and Zhang Yunchao, after the Northern Emperor's blessing and his advancement to the fourth rank.
• Zhou Wuji's companions congratulated him, while Wuming worried that the gap between their cultivation levels was growing.
• Zhou Wuji found that his True Qi had risen to nineteen thousand and estimated how long it would take to advance through the fourth rank.
• Zhou Wuji tested his newly condensed sword soul and found it could change the form of a Law Technique, then decided to seek the Tianshu Secret Method while Lu Zhijing was in Yunyang.

Zhou Wuji studied spirit-grade Secret Methods and used his fate to perfect his fundamental cultivation and combat arts. True Person Zhihua then arranged for him to train in the Lapis Lazuli Secret Realm before the Jingyang Dharma Assembly, leaving Zhou Wuji preparing to take on several months of dangerous duty.

• Zhou Wuji entered the Heavenly Authority Hall with True Person Zhiyun's permission and memorized spirit-grade Secret Methods, including the Northern Dipper Tianshu Spirit Scripture and Southern Dipper Longevity Lamp.
• Zhou Wuji spent five days organizing his methods, then used a fate weighing six taels and three mace to perfect the Northern Dipper Tianshu Spirit Scripture.
• Zhou Wuji invested further fate to perfect the Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder and Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Divine Incantation.
• On the thirteenth day of the first month, Zhou Wuji visited Wuming and agreed to take her to Jingyang City's Lantern Festival.
• True Person Zhihua summoned Zhou Wuji and proposed that he train in the Lapis Lazuli Secret Realm before the Jingyang Dharma Assembly, explaining its dangers and promising him an Earth-Traversing Golden Light Talisman.

Zhou Wuji and Wuming celebrated the Lantern Festival in Jingyang Commandery City, where Zhou Wuji encountered Leng Wuming and the others at the Cloud Immortal Tower. Meanwhile, Xue Feng recognized Zhou Wuji’s horses, stole them, and erased the innkeeper’s memories; the chapter ended as Leng Wuming tried to draw Zhou Wuji into a sword wager.

• Zhou Wuji and Wuming checked into the Peace and Fortune inn, leaving Yang Tie Ying to watch over their horses.
• Xue Feng learned that Zhou Wuji had arrived, then secretly devoured the two horses and erased the innkeeper’s memories.
• Zhou Wuji and Wuming strolled through the Lantern Festival crowds, and Zhou Wuji won Wuming a carp-shaped lantern by solving a riddle.
• Leng Wuming shouted a challenge to Zhou Wuji from the Cloud Immortal Tower, and Yue Wuying invited Zhou Wuji and Wuming upstairs.
• Leng Wuyou apologized for her brother’s rudeness, but Leng Wuming proposed a wager on a sword match, leaving Leng Wuyou embarrassed.

At the Lantern Festival, Leng Wuyou challenged Zhou Wuji to a swordsmanship exchange, but he turned it into a demonstration using wine shaped by sword intent. She tried to imitate him and lost, while Zhou Wuji ended the performance by inscribing a poem on the wall, leaving Leng Wuyou embarrassed that her brother’s actions had inspired it.

• Leng Wuyou apologized for Leng Wuming’s behavior, then asked Zhou Wuji for guidance through a friendly exchange of sword intent.
• Zhou Wuji seated the guests and shaped spirit wine into a lifelike figure that wielded a sword, astonishing the onlookers.
• Leng Wuyou formed her own wine figure, but its sword thrust made it burst apart, so she accepted defeat.
• Zhou Wuji demonstrated Xiaoxiang Swordsmanship with his wine figure, then used it to break three wine jars and write a poem on the wall.
• Leng Wuyou recognized that the poem had been inspired by her brother’s behavior and inwardly lamented her predicament.

Zhou Wuji displayed his swordsmanship by writing a poem with wine at Cloud Immortal Tower, then carried Wuming through the air and won the admiration of the crowd. Afterward, Sister Ying decided Cloud Immortal Tower should preserve the poem and try to win Zhou Wuji over, but she grew concerned when Wang Da’s Ironclad Guards rode toward the part of Jingyang where Zhou Wuji had gone.

• Zhou Wuji wrote a poem with wine as a sword, revealing sword intent that awed the cultivators and captivated Yue Wuying and Leng Wuyou.
• Zhou Wuji took Wuming away from Cloud Immortal Tower and glided through the air with her, astonishing the people below, who shouted that they were immortals.
• Leng Wuyou recorded the poem, Yue Wuying kept her Water Mirror Technique recording, and Zhang Qingning’s group discussed Zhou Wuji’s strength and the verses.
• Sister Ying arrived with Xiao Yun and decided the poem should remain on the wall as a valuable attraction, while warning Xiao Yun to avoid provoking the factions in Jingyang.
• Sister Ying told Xiao Yun to try to win Zhou Wuji over, then saw Wang Da leading Ironclad Guards toward the northern city and sent Xiao Yun to learn what had happened.

After Yang Tie Ying discovered that their horses had been stolen, Zhou Wuji traced the theft to a Heavenly Ghost Sect Devil Cultivator and used the Ironclad Guard’s investigation to protect the inn staff. The horses remained missing, but Zhou Wuji preserved the innkeeper as bait, hoping the Devil Cultivator would return.

• Yang Tie Ying threatened the innkeeper over the missing horses, and the constables backed down after Zhou Wuji showed Dharma Master Hongde’s Heavenly Pivot Token.
• Zhou Wuji found traces of Heavenly Ghost Sect Yin Qi in the stable and a concealed Spirit Severing Finger seal in the innkeeper’s mind.
• Zhou Wuji called in the Ironclad Guard, and Wang Da ordered the innkeeper and attendants taken for interrogation.
• An agent reported that the old man who had stayed at the inn had registered under a false identity, while the others refused to talk.
• Zhou Wuji gave Wang Da a hundred-tael banknote and persuaded him to release the innkeeper and attendants.
• Yang Tie Ying praised Zhou Wuji for helping the staff, while Zhou Wuji privately intended to use the innkeeper as bait; Wang Da told his agents that they had both benefited from their bargain.

Zhou Wuji healed the innkeeper and attendants, strengthened his Rejuvenation Spirit Technique, and arranged his disciple’s advancement before staking out the Peace and Fortune Inn for the Heavenly Ghost Sect expert who had killed his horse. On the sixth night, Xue Feng returned, and Zhou Wuji launched a concealed sword attack against him.

• Zhou Wuji healed the beaten innkeeper and attendants, gave each attendant ten taels of silver, and told Yang Tie Ying that Crimson Cloud had been destroyed.
• Zhou Wuji perfected the Rejuvenation Spirit Technique and decided to postpone improving his other Law Techniques until after visiting the Lapis Lazuli Secret Realm.
• Zhou Wuji told True Person Zhihua about the Devil Cultivator and received permission to hunt him for fifteen days before heading to the grotto-heaven.
• Zhou Wuji initiated Yang Tie Ying and conferred his register, stocked up on pills, and told Daoist Yizhen and Wuming that he would be away for months.
• Zhou Wuji hid in the Peace and Fortune Inn and waited for the Devil Cultivator to return; on the sixth night, Xue Feng came back and removed the Spirit Severing Finger from the innkeeper.
• Zhou Wuji concealed himself with the Tianxuan Sword and struck at Xue Feng with a sudden sword attack.

Zhou Wuji pursued Xue Feng out of Jingyang City after destroying his Ghost Marshal, then pretended to negotiate while preparing a surprise attack. He sealed Xue Feng with the Seven Stars Demon-Sealing Spirit Seal and beheaded him, leaving the Vanishing Shadow Yin Dragon Steed within reach.

• Zhou Wuji destroyed Xue Feng's fourth-rank Ghost Marshal with one sword strike, and Xue Feng fled on the Vanishing Shadow Yin Dragon Steed.
• Zhou Wuji chased Xue Feng across the rooftops and out of the city, then used the Tianquan Sword to block his escape.
• Xue Feng introduced himself and claimed he had come to Yunyang on the orders of the Southern Ghost King, offering ten thousand taels of gold to compensate for killing Zhou Wuji's horses.
• Zhou Wuji secretly advanced the Seven Stars Demon-Sealing Spirit Seal to the Transformation Realm while Xue Feng described the ghost horse and offered it as compensation.
• Zhou Wuji caught Xue Feng off guard with the Seven Stars Demon-Sealing Spirit Seal and beheaded him as he tried to recover from its effects.

After killing Xue Feng, Zhou Wuji learned from the Devil Cultivator’s letters that a Nine Yin Earth Eye might be nurturing ghost creatures beneath Yunyang. True Person Zhihua arranged for him and Wuleng to guard the Lapis Lazuli Grotto-Heaven, leaving Yining worried about Zhihua’s intentions and Wuleng’s future.

• Zhou Wuji killed Xue Feng, subdued the Vanishing Shadow Yin Dragon Steed, and found letters describing a possible Nine Yin Earth Eye beneath Yunyang.
• Zhou Wuji reported the letters to True Person Zhihua, who decided to have Lu Zhijing investigate the Ten Thousand Ghosts Grotto.
• True Person Zhihua refused to teach Zhou Wuji fourth-rank sword arts but suggested he ask Wuleng to teach him the Army-Breaking Sword.
• True Person Zhihua reassigned Zhou Wuji to Flying Profound Hall and arranged for him and Wuleng to guard the Lapis Lazuli Grotto-Heaven.
• Chief Seat Yihe briefed Zhou Wuji and Wuleng on their duties, gave them formation-control tokens, and led them into the grotto-heaven.
• Yining questioned True Person Zhihua about involving Wuleng, then worried that Zhou Wuji’s ambitions and lack of backing made him a dangerous match.

Zhou Wuji and Wuleng traveled to the Crimson Flame Desert, where he guided her Army-Breaking Sword cultivation and asked her to teach him the fourth-rank method. Wuleng agreed despite the sect’s restrictions, saying that helping him brought her joy.

• Yihe left Zhou Wuji and Wuleng to travel through the forest sea toward the Crimson Flame Desert.
• Zhou Wuji rode the Vanishing Shadow Yin Dragon Steed with Wuleng to the treehouses, where they met Daoist Yiyuan and took over the cabins.
• Zhou Wuji observed Wuleng practicing the Army-Breaking Sword and guided her sword intent by connecting it to the Army-Breaking Star.
• Zhou Wuji asked Wuleng to teach him the fourth-rank Army-Breaking Sword method, explaining that True Person Zhihua had directed him to learn it from her.
• Wuleng agreed to teach Zhou Wuji in secret and said that helping him brought her joy.

Zhou Wuji hunted powerful demonic creatures across the forest sea and Crimson Flame Desert to gather origin mystic essence, then used it to advance the Army-Breaking Sword to fourth rank and transform his body. After reaching marrow refining and gaining immense strength, he heard Wuleng call from the neighboring tree house, and her voice stirred a sudden blaze of desire in him.

• Wuleng taught Zhou Wuji the fourth-rank Army-Breaking Sword, and he learned its body-refining method over three days.
• Zhou Wuji used his Six Yang Spirit Eyes and Vanishing Shadow Yin Dragon Steed to hunt seventeen fifth-rank Demon Beasts in the forest sea, then turned to the Crimson Flame Desert.
• Zhou Wuji killed several desert scorpions, including fourth-rank creatures, and collected five portions of origin mystic essence.
• Zhou Wuji used Xue Feng's fate pattern to raise the Army-Breaking Sword to fourth rank, then spent four portions of essence to perfect it.
• Zhou Wuji's body reached standard marrow refining, his bodily stat rose from eight hundred to one thousand, and his strength and resilience greatly increased.
• Wuleng called out after the noise of Zhou Wuji's transforming bones disturbed her, and her voice stirred his desire.

Zhou Wuji completed his training in the Lapis Lazuli Secret Realm, strengthened his cultivation, and returned to Upright Yang Peak with Wuleng. True Person Zhihua told him that winning first place at the Jingyang Dharma Assembly could secure his path to becoming a True Disciple, while Zhiyuan warned him about the celebrated Monk Xinru.

• Zhou Wuji resisted growing intimate with Wuleng, then taught her the Army-Breaking Sword after perfecting it at the fourth rank.
• By mid-June, Zhou Wuji had refined ten spinal acupoints and increased his True Qi capacity by eight thousand.
• Zhou Wuji and Wuleng left the Lapis Lazuli Secret Realm and visited True Person Zhihua, who announced the Jingyang Dharma Assembly and urged Zhou Wuji to win first place.
• Zhiyuan told Zhou Wuji that Monk Xinru had subdued a horned black snake in the Changyang River and had become the leading favorite for the Dharma Assembly.

At a Heavenly Pivot Hall meeting, Lu Zhicheng demanded two places for his Main Court companions at the Jingyang Dharma Assembly, but Zhou Wuji challenged Lu Wuqiu to prove her strength. Zhou Wuji’s palm strike forced her back seven steps, leaving Lu Zhicheng’s group unable to claim the places.

• True Person Zhihua assigned Wuyuan, Zhou Wuji, Yan Wudong, and Wuleng to represent the Upper Court at the Jingyang Dharma Assembly.
• Lu Zhicheng insisted that Lu Wuxia and Lu Wuqiu take two places, arguing that the Main Court needed to help restore the sect’s prestige.
• Zhou Wuji challenged Lu Zhicheng’s authority, and Yining asserted that Zhou’s imperial title gave him standing to speak.
• Lu Wuqiu confronted Zhou Wuji, who offered her his place if she could withstand one palm strike and demanded that the Main Court group otherwise stay silent.
• Zhou Wuji’s palm strike drove Lu Wuqiu back seven steps and left her struggling to suppress her churning Qi and Blood.

Zhou Wuji defeated Lu Wuqiu, healed her, and frustrated Lu Zhicheng’s attempt to pressure True Person Zhihua. He then enlisted Zhihua’s help with his Dharma Assembly plan, while Leng Wuyou and Yue Wuying met Xinkong, who challenged Zhou Wuji’s standing against his senior brother Xinru.

• Zhou Wuji subdued Lu Wuqiu, then used his Rejuvenation Spirit Technique to heal her and restore her Qi and Blood.
• Lu Zhicheng attacked Zhou Wuji from behind, but Zhou caught his staff and mocked him after Lu Wuqiu signaled that she was unharmed.
• True Person Zhihua dismissed the hall, and Lu Zhicheng decided to stay for the Jingyang Dharma Assembly rather than leave in disgrace.
• Zhou Wuji asked True Person Zhihua to help carry out his novel plan for expounding the Dharma, and she agreed after hearing the details.
• Leng Wuyou and Yue Wuying inspected the Dharma Assembly platforms and met Xinkong, who boasted about Xinru and declared that Xinru would surpass Zhou Wuji.

At the Ghost Festival Dharma assembly, Leng Wuyou met Zhang Qingning’s circle of young Jingyang talents, who debated which cultivator would win first place. Zhou Wuji took the preaching platform, but an abrupt, astonishing change occurred before he could begin, drawing the entire gathering’s attention.

• Zhang Qingning persuaded Leng Wuyou to meet Zhang Shiqi and several other prominent young men from Jingyang.
• The young men discussed likely winners of the Dharma assembly, and Leng Wuyou predicted that Zhou Wuji would take first place because of his Sword Intent.
• As the sects preached in turn, Leng Wuyou watched Yue Wuying and the other young cultivators speak from the platform.
• Zhang Dingyang and Huo Dongling prepared to disrupt Zhou Wuji’s preaching with more than two hundred Great River Gang members.
• Zhou Wuji ascended the platform, and an abrupt change stunned Xinru, Xinkong, and the crowd, drawing nearly everyone at the Ghost Festival to the stage.

Zhou Wuji used an enormous water mirror, scripture, and stirring flute music to deliver the Big Dipper Scripture at the Ghost Festival. His spectacle moved tens of thousands to worship the Northern Emperor, leaving even powerful cultivators astonished and his standing greatly elevated.

• Zhou Wuji displayed the Big Dipper Scripture on an enormous water mirror, stunning the crowd and impressing Zhang Shiqi, Leng Wuyou, Zhang Dingyang, and the gathered True Persons.
• Zhou Wuji began chanting the scripture as the water mirror showed a woodcutter surviving a lightning strike through prayer, prompting many people to kneel and chant with him.
• Zhang Shiqi rebuked Zhang Shiying for insulting the Northern Emperor, and Zhang Shiying fell silent while Leng Wuyou urged him to speak and act prudently.
• Zhou Wuji completed the ceremony with stirring flute music and a vision of the Northern Emperor beneath the Big Dipper, moving the crowd to chant blessings and reach for the fading starlight.
• Li Yiyang, Leng Yiming, and Zhang Zhichun recognized Zhou Wuji's extraordinary influence, while True Person Zhihua watched him with growing approval.

After Zhou Wuji’s spectacular sermon, the Jingyang Dharma Assembly moved from its memorial ceremony to the Dharma contests, where the Dragon Elephant Temple’s strength became clear. As Lu Wuyuan struggled against Xinkong, Zhou Wuji asked True Person Zhihua to teach him the Fourth Rank Tianshu Sword, leaving her irritated by his request.

• Xinru preached the Diamond Sutra, then Zhiyuan led the ceremony for the dead as people released lotus lanterns into the river.
• The Dharma contests began with a staged sword bout, and Leng Wuyou left after hearing the young gentlemen disparage the Daoist sects.
• Lu Wuyuan drew Xinkong as his first opponent and used the Seven Stars Profound Gang Incantation and Northern Dipper Heavenly Pivot Yin Thunder against him.
• Xinkong broke apart Lu Wuyuan’s lightning with his staff, making the Daoist cultivators realize how formidable he was.
• True Person Zhihua told Zhou Wuji that the remaining contest depended on him, and Zhou Wuji asked her to teach him the Fourth Rank Tianshu Sword.

Xinkong defeated Lu Wuyuan, and Zhou Wuji demonstrated his superior swordsmanship by beating Yue Wuying. Zhou Wuji advanced to face Leng Wuyou, who conceded after exchanging a few words with him, leaving the crowd to wonder whether they had a private affair.

• Xinkong defeated Lu Wuyuan, who left in anger after the crowd jeered at him.
• True Person Zhihua warned Zhou Wuji about Xinkong's strength and advised him to focus on the Fourth Rank Army-Breaking Sword.
• Leng Wuyou defeated Li Wujue, then Zhou Wuji defeated Yue Wuying by defending against her attacks until she conceded.
• Zhang Dingyang asked Huo Dongling to compare Zhou Wuji with Pei Zhengxiu and considered inviting Pei Zhengxiu to challenge him.
• After Zhou Wuji was paired with Leng Wuyou, she exchanged a few words with him and conceded, prompting the crowd to speculate about their relationship.