Chapter Summaries

Gu Nanfeng returned to Nagano to push for negotiations over the Awakening Act, but learned that the Gu family’s factions preferred neutrality and had little desire to restore his authority. Gu Shen reviewed Gu Nanfeng’s years in the Northern Continent and, as the chapter ended, worried about his own danger in Nagano.

• At Luo Pangzi’s welcome feast, Gu Nanfeng showed him a Ground Leech component and suggested its presence was a warning that people in Nagano had long watched him.
• Gu Nanfeng asked Nagano to take a position on the Awakening Act and negotiate with Dadu, but Luo Pangzi told him the Old Master had secured neutrality and urged him not to raise the matter again.
• Gu Nanfeng insisted that Grave Fiend stay with him as a guest, despite Luo Pangzi’s attempt to send him away.
• In the Mental Link, Chu Ling explained that both Gu family factions had grown comfortable with the status quo, while Gu Nanfeng was the one truly seeking change.
• Chu Ling showed Gu Shen records of Gu Nanfeng’s rise in the Fourth Legion and suggested his ties to Rust Bone might have helped him obtain a City of Light token.
• Gu Shen concluded that Gu Nanfeng understood the risks of returning, then admitted he was more concerned about his own danger and Zhou Jiren’s enemies in the Adjudication Court.

Wild Dog learned that Cast Snow intended Zhao Qi to fend for himself in Luo Yin City Fortress while the North Continent prepared for a dangerous Mystic Realm near Piyue City. In Nagano, Zhu Wang tried to counter the hypnotic seed Sky Eye had planted in Han Dang, but could only ease its effects.

• Cast Snow ordered Wild Dog to assign Zhao Qi gate duty and give him no help or attention, rejecting comparisons between him and Mountain Wind.
• Wild Dog reported that Sky Eye's hair had reached Zhou Jiren and that Zhou was heading to Piyue City; Cast Snow warned that the Mystic Realm might signal an Old World-related Order Collapse and sent Wild Dog to support Rust Bone.
• Zhu Wang and Han Dang discussed Zhou Jiren's trip north and Sky Eye's possible entrapment in the Mystic Realm, while Zhu Wang criticized Han Dang's failure in Qinghe.
• Han Dang struggled with guilt he suspected was a hypnotic suggestion from Sky Eye, and Zhu Wang used hypnosis to reinforce his confidence and anger toward Zhou Jiren's group.
• After ten minutes, Han Dang was left exhausted, and Zhu Wang concluded that he could only alleviate the seed and that removing it would require Han Dang, Sky Eye, or a stronger Mental Affinity paragon.

Gu Shen faced an early-morning challenge from Chu Jue and a group of young Nagano Tribunal Transcendents. After rejecting Gu Nanfeng’s offer to turn them away, Gu Shen accepted Chu Jue’s challenge and overwhelmed him with close-quarters combat.

• Chu Jue and eleven Tribunal juniors forced their way into the Gu family residence, and Chu Jue used mental power to knock aside a guard.
• Gu Shen learned from Chu Ling that Chu Jue was a fifth-level Mental Affinity Transcendent and decided to fight rather than let challengers treat him as an easy target.
• Gu Nanfeng warned Gu Shen that the challenge custom could bring repeated challengers, but Gu Shen declined his offer to drive them away.
• Chu Jue formally challenged Gu Shen, and Gu Shen accepted his challenge alone instead of fighting the junior Transcendents.
• Gu Shen charged Chu Jue, absorbed his mental attack into his Mental Domain, and knocked him down with a punch before raining blows on him.

Gu Shen defeated Chu Jue after the Prison Institute junior challenged him, then learned Han Dang had directed Chu Jue to his residence. Gu Shen suspected Zhu Wang was using the challenges to provoke him and asked Zou He who the strongest young transcendent under the Fourth Tribunal Judge was.

• Lu Nan Jin sensed Gu Shen's fight with Chu Jue through the wind and was surprised by Gu Shen's strength and resistance to mental attacks.
• Gu Shen beat Chu Jue in front of the Prison Institute newcomers, withstanding Chu Jue's Mental Detonation and stopping only when Zou He intervened.
• Gu Shen challenged Zou He's defense of Chu Jue, and Zou He introduced himself as the senior disciple under the Fourth Tribunal Judge.
• Zou He revealed that Han Dang had sent Chu Jue to challenge Gu Shen, and Chu Jue admitted Han Dang had promised him a Sealed Item.
• Gu Shen suspected Han Dang and Zhu Wang were arranging further challenges, then asked Zou He who among the young transcendents under the Fourth Tribunal Judge was the best fighter.

Han Dang paid Bai Lu to arrange a same-level challenge for Gu Shen, but Gu Shen publicly challenged Shen Li at the Prison Institute's dojo. The chapter ended as Shen Li, a lethal A-Rank fighter under confinement, launched his attack.

• Han Dang offered Bai Lu three times the original payment to have a Bai Family combat genius teach Gu Shen a lesson, and they agreed.
• Gu Shen's challenge drew hundreds of spectators to the Fourth Tribunal Judge's dojo, where Gu Nanfeng promised to oversee a fair duel.
• Gu Shen waited for Shen Li, an A-Rank Assault Type Transcendent whose Iron Eater ability let him fuse iron into his body and armor himself.
• Chu Ling revealed that Shen Li had been confined after killing four targets during a containment mission, and the Fourth Tribunal Judge had just lifted the restrictions.
• Shen Li charged across the arena toward Gu Shen after the two exchanged a silent stare.

Gu Shen fought Chen Li in the dojo, using Blazing Fire to try to hypnotize him while resisting Iron Eater’s attacks. Just as Gu Shen’s mental invasion neared success, Chen Li broke through in battle and began forming a domain.

• Chen Li attacked Gu Shen with Iron Eater, and Gu Shen evaded while suppressing the Iron Throne’s urge to fight.
• Gu Shen activated Blazing Fire Vision and faced Chen Li with his eyes closed, then traded punches with him as Bai Chen cleared the dust from the arena.
• Gu Shen’s punch struck Chen Li and carried Blazing Fire into his mind, beginning a hypnosis that Chen Li resisted.
• Gu Shen’s flames penetrated most of the way into Chen Li, but Chen Li’s Iron Eater resumed operating and formed a barrier as he achieved a breakthrough in battle.

Gu Shen defeated Chen Li’s Iron Eater form by unleashing the Iron Throne and Truth Ruler, then moved to use Blazing Fire to end the fight. A robed figure suddenly intervened, catching the flame before it reached Chen Li.

• Chen Li’s mental Sealed Item blocked Gu Shen’s Blazing Fire, and Chen Li’s Iron Eater power surged as he broke through toward a domain.
• Chen Li attacked viciously, so Gu Shen released the Iron Throne and shattered Chen Li’s iron arm with a direct punch.
• Chen Li lost control and transformed into a towering Iron Eater, but Gu Shen used the Truth Ruler to lift and repeatedly slam him across the Dojo.
• Chen Li reached for the spectators, and Gu Nanfeng and Bai Chen severed his arms before Gu Shen prepared a final Blazing Fire strike.
• A robed figure descended through the Dojo’s shattered glass and caught Gu Shen’s Blazing Fire just before it hit Chen Li.

Gu Shen defeated Shen Li in their duel, but the Fourth Tribunal Judge intervened and refused Gu Shen access to the Grain Rain Scroll. The Federation Security Committee detained Shen Li, and the arrival of the Grand Tribunal Head left the dojo awaiting another major confrontation.

• The Fourth Tribunal Judge stopped Gu Shen from striking Shen Li and declared the duel over, while Shen Li refused to accept his defeat and demanded a rematch.
• Gu Shen offered to fight Shen Li again for the right to study the Grain Rain Scroll, but the Fourth Tribunal Judge rejected his request and criticized his ambition.
• Gu Shen accused the Fourth Tribunal Judge and Chu Jue of manipulating the challenge, while Zou He explained the events to the judge.
• The Federation Security Committee arrived and detained Shen Li for endangering public safety and escaping supervision, then reprimanded the Fourth Tribunal Judge for violating monitoring regulations.
• Gu Nanfeng learned that Luo Yu had alerted a Federation Security Committee contact about Shen Li before the duel began.
• The dojo learned that the Grand Tribunal Head had arrived, prompting spectators who were leaving to take their seats again.

The Grand Tribunal Head intervened after Shen Li was taken away, ensuring the Safety Committee would treat him properly, then arrived at Su Yu’s dojo. Gu Shen used the gathering to ask the Grand Tribunal Head for help seeing the Grain Rain Scroll, leaving the dojo stunned.

• Du Wei escorted handcuffed Shen Li away, but Bai Lu warned him that the Prison Institute expected Shen Li to be treated properly and not injured.
• The Grand Tribunal Head entered Su Yu’s dojo with Bai Lu, where she probed Gu Shen’s spiritual power and he burned away her intrusion.
• The Grand Tribunal Head defended Shen Li as a young man who had merely competed too eagerly, implying the Safety Committee would handle the matter leniently.
• The Grand Tribunal Head recognized Gu Nanfeng, who revealed that Gu Shen was Zhou Jiren’s S-rank disciple.
• The Grand Tribunal Head offered Gu Shen help, and Gu Shen asked to see the Grain Rain Scroll.

After the Tomb Keeper invoked Gu Changzhi’s will, Mountain Master allowed Gu Shen to study the Grain Rain Scroll. Gu Shen entered its visualization world and found that the rain and growing grass had become frozen in place.

• The Tomb Keeper appeared through Gale Cutter and ordered the Prison Institute to let Gu Shen comprehend the Grain Rain Scroll, citing Gu Changzhi’s will.
• Gu Shen thanked the Tomb Keeper and asked Mountain Master to let him study the scroll immediately.
• Mountain Master brought the original Grain Rain Scroll to the Fourth Tribunal Judge’s Dojo, where a crowd gathered to watch Gu Shen begin comprehending a second Breathing Method.
• Gu Shen discovered that the ancient parchment contained disordered Ancient Text and faint spiritual guidance left by Gu Changzhi.
• Gu Shen touched the scroll and entered its wilderness visualization, where he saw a rain-soaked world filled with reflections of himself.
• Gu Shen realized the visualization world was frozen, with raindrops suspended and grass not yet growing.

As powerful observers watched Gu Shen attempt to comprehend the Grain Rain Scroll, he questioned whether the established path of visualization was the only correct one. He sensed that the Four Seasons Wilderness was incomplete but had not yet discovered what was missing.

• On a rooftop outside the Fourth Tribunal Judge Dojo, Pumpkin projected the dojo scene in snow as Old Gong asked whether Gu Shen had defeated Shen Li.
• Pumpkin said Gu Shen was weak, but he and Old Gong worried that Gu Shen had cultivated for only half a year and was already attempting to fuse a second Breathing Method scroll.
• In the Grain Rain Scroll’s Mental World, Chu Ling told Gu Shen that the Prison Institute, Command Center, Adjudication Court, and Nagano’s powerful families were watching him.
• Gu Shen calmly explored the frozen wilderness with Chu Ling and reflected that the Awakening of Insects and Grain Rain scrolls together should form the Breath of Spring.
• Gu Shen questioned whether Gu Changzhi’s approach to the Grain Rain Scroll was necessarily correct and wondered how the first person had visualized without following an established path.
• After sitting and studying the sky without beginning his comprehension, Gu Shen concluded that something was missing from the Four Seasons Wilderness.

Gu Shen rejected Gu Changzhi’s inherited visualization and used the Grain Rain Scroll to create a barren Mental World of his own, giving it light and spring rain with Blazing Fire’s help. As he discovered a seed in the mud, observers outside saw black radiance from the scroll and debated what it meant, while Bai Chen suspected Gu Shen had hidden how quickly he truly comprehended it.

• Gu Shen deliberately forgot Gu Changzhi’s mental guidance and began visualizing a new world by following Blazing Fire’s perception.
• Gu Shen used Blazing Fire’s Transcendent Source Matter to bring light and rain to the barren wilderness, realizing the Grain Rain Scroll could help him create his own Mental World.
• Gu Shen wished to fill the wilderness with life, but Blazing Fire led him instead to a dirty seed buried in the mud.
• Chu Ling reappeared in Gu Shen’s new Mental World and recognized that he had abandoned the familiar path to create a visualization world of his own.
• The Grain Rain Scroll emitted black radiance in the dojo, puzzling Gu Nanfeng, Luo Yu, and Mountain Master as Gu Shen completed his comprehension in fifty-one minutes.
• Lu Nan Jin suspected Gu Shen had concealed his abilities, and Bai Chen told Bai Lu that Gu Shen may have spent less than thirty minutes truly comprehending the scroll.

Gu Shen fused the Grain Rain Scroll in fifty-one minutes, earning the Prison Institute’s second-fastest comprehension record and drawing attention from Nagano’s powerful figures. After Master Chino asked to see him, Gu Shen learned she was waiting for him at Qingzhong.

• Gu Shen finished comprehending the Grain Rain Scroll in fifty-one minutes, and Chu Ling told him only Bai Xiu had a faster record.
• Bai Chen warned Bai Lu not to provoke Gu Shen, explaining that the Grand Arbiter and Hua Banner supported him.
• Gong Zi and Mu Nan discussed Gu Shen’s sudden rise and his unusual black Mental Radiance.
• Gu Shen handed the Grain Rain Scroll to the Grand Tribunal Head and felt his spiritual power expand after fusing it with the Awakening of Insects scroll.
• Gu Nanfeng told Gu Shen that Master Chino was waiting for him at Qingzhong.

Gu Shen and Gu Nanfeng flew to Qingzhong Cemetery with Grave Fiend to meet the Tomb Keeper, Master Chino. At the sealed Outer Tomb, Gu Shen saw a hidden path through the mist and went forward alone.

• Gu Shen saw the vast Qingzhong Cemetery from the helicopter and learned how its array kept its immense Transcendent Source Matter stable.
• Gu Nanfeng explained that Qingzhong suppressed Grave Fiend's bad luck, which had also affected the New World project.
• Gu Nanfeng brought Grave Fiend along, and Grave Fiend feared Master Chino would punish him for his mistakes in building Qingzhong.
• Gu Nanfeng and Gu Shen landed before the mist-shrouded Outer Tomb and explained that the inner cemetery rarely opened.
• Gu Shen used Blazing Fire to see a faint path through the mist, and Gu Nanfeng told him to follow it to Master Chino.

Gu Shen met the Tomb Keeper in a dreamlike wilderness and learned that Gu Changzhi had always been alive, protecting Nagano through Qingzhong. The Tomb Keeper revealed that Gu Changzhi rested at the end of Qingzhong and the dream.

• Gu Shen entered Qingzhong’s inner mausoleum and followed the mist until he reached a wilderness where he met the Tomb Keeper.
• Gu Shen told the Tomb Keeper he had rejected Gu Changzhi’s version of the Four Seasons Wilderness and chosen to cultivate its seeds, where Tie Wu’s soul was sleeping.
• The Tomb Keeper explained that Gu Changzhi’s Fire Seed stabilized Qingzhong and that Gu Changzhi had been weakening but had reached out to her through Gu Shen.
• The Tomb Keeper confirmed Gu Changzhi had always been alive, with Qingzhong’s Transcendent Source Matter and the sunlight protecting Nagano serving as his incarnations.
• Gu Shen described his meeting with Gu Changzhi in the Golden God Domain and recounted the divine punishment placed on the God of Wine’s Throne.
• Gu Shen relayed that Gu Changzhi had called the Tomb Keeper “Xiao Ye,” and she pointed toward the end of Qingzhong and the dream as his resting place.

The Tomb Keeper explained how Qingzhong became a Mystic Realm sustained by Gu Changzhi’s fire seed and revealed that Grave Fiend had reversed the design of its enormous array. She had spent more than a decade living upside down to control the reversed array, leaving Gu Shen to confront the cost of Grave Fiend’s mistake.

• The Tomb Keeper told Gu Shen that Qingzhong was built to gather Transcendent Source Matter and awaken Gu Changzhi, but he never woke.
• The Tomb Keeper explained that the Inner Tomb’s fog concealed a Mystic Realm where spirit and matter shared the same plane, making injuries and death real.
• The Tomb Keeper revealed that Gu Changzhi’s fire seed had activated the array and created the Four Seasons Wilderness, though no one could see the sleeping man.
• The Tomb Keeper displayed the array patterns and told Gu Shen that they came from ancient blueprints Gu Changzhi brought back, not from Grave Fiend’s own design.
• The Tomb Keeper said Grave Fiend had reversed the order of the array and that controlling it required reversing one’s own world, which explained why she had sat upside down for over a decade.

The Tomb Keeper told Gu Shen that Qingzhong’s Transcendent Source Matter was becoming unstable and asked him to help gather materials to repair the aging formation patterns. She revealed that she had guarded the tomb for ten years not as a saint, but because she was waiting for Gu Changzhi to awaken, and Gu Shen affirmed her as a great, real person.

• Master Chino warned Gu Shen that Qingzhong’s Transcendent Source Matter was gradually losing control as its formation patterns wore away.
• The Tomb Keeper explained that the Gu family’s changing attitude made repairing the patterns difficult to keep secret, and asked Gu Shen to help.
• The Tomb Keeper gave Gu Shen a leaf listing the rare materials needed for repairs, and he agreed to try to gather them.
• Gu Shen asked what would happen if the patterns could not be fully repaired, and the Tomb Keeper said she cared most about whether Gu Changzhi could awaken.
• The Tomb Keeper admitted that she had guarded Qingzhong for ten years to wait for Gu Changzhi’s return, and Gu Shen told her she was a great and real person.

Gu Shen left Qingzhong after meeting Master Chino, and Luo Pangzi forced Grave Fiend to meet the Tomb Keeper. Master Chino questioned Grave Fiend about the inverted Clear Tomb Array, then failed to divine anything about him.

• Gu Shen emerged from Qingzhong and told Luo Pangzi he had only exchanged pleasantries with Master Chino.
• Luo Pangzi and Lu Nan Jin made Grave Fiend enter the tomb to meet the Tomb Keeper.
• Grave Fiend explained that he had sensed the blueprints’ meaning but misread them, causing the Clear Tomb Array patterns to be reversed.
• Master Chino refused to answer Xing Yun’s question about how she understood the Ancient Text and warned Grave Fiend that she might settle old scores later.
• Master Chino used the Divination Technique on Grave Fiend, but the clouds and divination could not converge on him.

Gu Shen summoned Lu Nanzhi to the restored Conference Room to ask Hua Banner to secretly gather materials for repairing Qingzhong’s array patterns and uncovering the truth about Gu Changzhi. Lu Nanzhi agreed to obtain most of the materials, while Gu Shen realized he might be able to secure the Northern Continent’s rare materials himself.

• Gu Shen contacted Lu Nanzhi and summoned her to an emergency meeting in the Deep Water Zone Conference Room.
• Gu Shen explained that the Conference Room’s code had been modified to protect it from exposure during Deep Sea upgrades.
• Gu Shen showed Lu Nanzhi the materials list Master Chino had requested, and she inferred that it was connected to Qingzhong’s array patterns and Gu Changzhi’s awakening.
• Lu Nanzhi agreed that Hua Banner would gather the available materials secretly within a week, though some rare items would be difficult to obtain.
• After learning that the remaining extraordinary materials came from the Northern Continent, Gu Shen said he would find a way to secure them himself.

Heavenly Dog visited Gubu Fortress to deliver Cast Snow’s increasingly urgent order for Lin Lin to return to Forward City, but Lin Lin refused and deterred him from using force. After Heavenly Dog left, Lin Lin wondered how long he could keep resisting until a voice identifying itself as Key contacted him.

• Heavenly Dog told Lin Lin that Cast Snow wanted him to return to Forward City after three years away, but Lin Lin refused to leave Gubu Fortress.
• Heavenly Dog’s presence frightened Lin Lin’s Labrador Dire Hound, while Lin Lin warned that the fortress could destroy Heavenly Dog’s airship if he attacked.
• Heavenly Dog said Gubu Fortress needed a capable defender but that Lin Lin was not the only person who could guard it, then stroked the trembling dog and warned that dogs that bite do not bark.
• After Heavenly Dog departed, Lin Lin wondered how long he could delay returning to Forward City and how Heavenly Dog had projected such a powerful presence.
• A voice spoke inside Lin Lin’s head, called him Zero Seven Three, and identified itself as Key.