Sword Immortal Who Defies Heaven

Slaying Heaven Sword Immortal is a cultivation fantasy novel by the web author Chengfeng Yujian, running about 2.76 million characters across more than 800 chapters and completed in 2015. The protagonist, Lu Qinghe, comes from the cultivation environment around Qingyuan (born to a maid of the Snow Sword Manor; some say he was originally the top swordsman of Qingyuan Academy). While competing for a promotion slot at the swordsmanship academy, he offends the son of a powerful family, Bei Haizhen, and is hunted to the banks of the Yuan River, where his meridians are severed. On the verge of death, his body is taken over by Ye Qingfeng, a sword master from an Earth in the age of dharma decline (both accounts circulate). He then uses a spiritual elixir given by a senior to heal his injuries, and with "Qingping," the proving sword of a Tongtian sage, advances steadily along the sword path: from the academy to a sect, through trials, contending with prodigies of all sides, venturing into the inheritance realm and the myriad heavens realm, until he reaches the higher planes of the primeval world and the chaotic void. The book's creed is "Heaven is dead; in this life I turn to demonhood, seeking only a clear cosmos and enduring righteousness," framing immortals and demons as methods rather than factions: to settle scores with those who must be settled, the protagonist would rather dirty himself first. The author's sword-cultivator style is sharp and direct, striking without reason and settling grudges in one go; the payoff moments are dense and the battles vivid, making it a representative example of the sword-cultivation power-fantasy genre, though readers often criticize its monster-grinding, leveling, and map-switching formula and repetitive later arcs.