Chapter Summaries

Gu Shen quickly comprehended an ancient text blueprint, then went to the Colossus Ruins to repair and study its array pattern under Master Chino’s guidance. After three hours of work, he sensed that the surrounding fog might have thinned, while Master Chino said learning the patterns would take at least a year.

• Gu Shen traced the ancient text blueprint’s sixteen-sided array pattern in a dream, astonishing Master Chino with how quickly he understood it.
• Master Chino explained that reading ancient text was only the first step and that breaking down and combining the array patterns would take much longer.
• Master Chino sent Gu Shen to the Colossus Ruins with Purple Silver and Snow Frozen Soil to inspect and repair the array pattern tracings.
• Gu Shen repaired the faded lines on the statue’s base, then compared his work with the correct pattern Master Chino sent into his mind.
• Gu Shen spent three hours correcting and comprehending the array pattern before Master Chino told him he could move on and that the work would take at least a year.
• Gu Shen noticed the full moon and wondered whether the fog around the Colossus Ruins had grown thinner.

Gu Shen continued studying ancient script in Qingzhong while Nagano searched for him. After returning to the Gu Family Villa District, he found Bai Lu provoking Shen Li, but Lu Nan Jin stopped the confrontation with a warning sword strike.

• Gu Shen calculated that studying every array marking would take over five hundred days and continued learning ancient script in Qingzhong.
• Shen Li confronted Luo Yu about Gu Shen’s disappearance, and Luo Yu told him Gu Shen was believed to be in Qingzhong.
• Bai Lu provoked Shen Li into nearly fighting, while Luo Yu warned that the Federation Security Committee could intervene.
• Lu Nan Jin sent her wooden sword close to Bai Lu’s face, cut off a strand of her hair, and ordered her to stop disturbing her cultivation.
• Gu Shen arrived and told Shen Li that Bai Lu had been trying to provoke him into getting sent to jail.

Gu Shen returned to Spring Rain Temple after studying the Divination Technique with Master Chino, and news spread that she had taken two disciples. As Luo Yu asked who the second disciple was, Gu Shen had not yet answered.

• Gu Shen returned to Spring Rain Temple and greeted Shen Li, Bai Lu, and Luo Yu after spending two days in Qingzhong.
• Bai Lu and Luo Yu received news that Master Chino had taken two disciples, one of whom was Gu Shen.
• Gu Shen confirmed that he had studied the Divination Technique under Master Chino in Qingzhong.
• Lu Nan Jin emerged from Wind Comes Pavilion, sensed that Gu Shen had been in Qingzhong, congratulated him, and returned to seclusion.
• At Spring Rain Temple, Gu Shen warned Bai Lu of ominous signs, then told her he had been joking.
• Luo Yu asked Gu Shen to identify Master Chino's second disciple.

Gu Shen claimed that a mysterious young woman had inherited the Divination Technique and was hiding in Qingzhong, provoking curiosity from Luo Yu and Bai Lu. In his Mental Link with Chu Ling, he revealed that he meant her and argued that public belief in a successor mattered more than whether she had truly studied the technique or visited Qingzhong.

• Gu Shen told Luo Yu and Bai Lu that the Divination Technique’s second successor was a young woman with computational power surpassing his own.
• Gu Shen refused to reveal the woman’s name and warned the Five Great Families that she would not leave Qingzhong or be found by those seeking her.
• Shen Li sensed that Gu Shen and the mysterious successor were close, while Chu Ling questioned him through their Mental Link about the woman.
• Gu Shen led Chu Ling to realize that he was describing her, and she objected that she had never visited Qingzhong or cultivated the Divination Technique.
• Gu Shen explained that people seeking hope needed to believe a successor existed, and told Chu Ling, “Because I exist, therefore you exist.”

Gu Shen’s claim that Chu Ling was the second inheritor of Master Chino’s Divination Technique spread through Snow Forbidden City, giving her a public existence and bringing crowds to Spring Rain Temple. Gong Zi delivered Gu Shen an invitation to a joint banquet and warned him that people were watching to see whether he would enter the Rookie Competition and face Bai Xiu.

• Gu Shen and Chu Ling reflected on how the rumor made her seem alive, and Gu Shen promised they would live together.
• Visitors flocked to Spring Rain Temple, where Gong Zi and Mu Nan met Gu Shen, Bai Lu, and Shen Li.
• Gong Zi apologized for the Gong Family’s failure to intervene when Bai Chen caused trouble and invited Gu Shen to a joint banquet hosted by the Gong and Mu families.
• Gu Shen accepted the invitation but said he might not attend, while Gong Zi noted that Bai Lu’s brother would be there.
• Gong Zi reminded Gu Shen that Rookie Competition registration was nearing its deadline, as Snow Forbidden City watched for a possible clash between Gu Shen and Bai Xiu.

Gu Shen told Bai Lu he had no time for the Rookie Competition, then learned how powerful Bai Xiu was from Gong Zi, Mu Nan, and Shen Li. He ended the discussion by insisting he would not enter the competition, so the anticipated fight would not happen.

• Gong Zi told Gu Shen that people on the Snow Forbidden City forum thought he was avoiding Bai Xiu by not registering for the Rookie Competition.
• Bai Lu pressed Gu Shen to confirm he would fight Bai Xiu, but Gu Shen said he had no time for the competition.
• Gong Zi and Mu Nan described how Bai Xiu had defeated them in sparring, while Shen Li recalled seeing Bai Xiu split a mountain with lightning during a mission.
• Chu Ling estimated that Bai Xiu may already have condensed a Domain Embryo a year and a half earlier.
• Shen Li and Mu Nan discussed betting on Gu Shen, but Gu Shen said the fight would not happen because he would not participate in the Rookie Competition.

Rust Bone Great General and Wild Dog waited outside the Piyue City Disaster Zone as the Fourth Legion prepared for the possibility of cutting it off, while a group of trapped people emerged in a deadly avalanche. At Forward City's Privy Council meeting, Cast Snow Grand Duke explained the danger, sought authorization to keep the Fourth Legion stationed there, and revealed that the Empress’s corruption investigation had led to arrests.

• Rust Bone Great General told Wild Dog that the Fourth Legion would wait outside the Disaster Zone, and that he would attempt to enter once before considering severing its connection to the Real World.
• Wild Dog and Rust Bone Great General saw a doorway open in the storm, releasing an avalanche of snow from the Disaster Zone.
• Cast Snow Grand Duke presented the Privy Council with a plan to station the Fourth Legion outside the Disaster Zone and explained that it was expanding toward Piyue City Fortress.
• Cast Snow Grand Duke reported that Sky Eye and Sky-Reaching Tree had sent out 135 people, of whom 129 had died and six remained unconscious, while three people were still inside.
• Cast Snow Grand Duke disclosed that the Empress’s corruption investigation had concluded and that Forward City’s Sentinels were arresting implicated officials.
• Cast Snow Grand Duke resumed the meeting and asked the Privy Council to authorize the Fourth Legion’s continued presence at the Disaster Zone.

Li Qingsui visited Gu Shen at Spring Rain Temple after learning he had become an inheritor of the Divination Technique, and she tried to uncover the identity of the second inheritor. Gu Shen gave her a staged fortune reading that ended with him flicking her forehead, while Gu Nanfeng had yet to return from his tense meeting with Old Master.

• Luo Yu waited anxiously at Spring Rain Temple for Gu Nanfeng to return from his meeting with Old Master.
• Li Qingsui arrived with Uncle Gao and questioned Gu Shen about becoming an inheritor of the Divination Technique.
• Gu Shen hinted that the second inheritor was female and alive, and Li Qingsui guessed the girl was closely connected to him.
• Li Qingsui said she would ask Elder Sister to use the Prayer Art to meet the mysterious inheritor.
• Gu Shen read Li Qingsui's face and predicted physical pain, then flicked her forehead and claimed his Divination Technique was accurate.

Gu Nanfeng returned to Hidden Dragon Pavilion after spending the day fishing, then told his companions that Old Master had invited him and Gu Shen to dinner the next evening. The chapter ended with Gu Shen wondering why Old Master wanted to meet him.

• Luo Yu welcomed Gu Nanfeng back and saw that he had brought a bucket of water and several Big Black Fish.
• Gu Nanfeng grilled fish for Gu Shen, Lu Nan Jin, Li Qingsui, Uncle Gao, and Luo Pangzi, and recalled Uncle Gao helping him leave Nagano eight years earlier.
• Uncle Gao asked about Gu Nanfeng's meeting with Old Master, and Gu Nanfeng said they had fished and discussed little beyond household matters.
• Gu Nanfeng said Old Master had ignored his comments about the Awakening Act and negotiations with the Great Capital District, postponing serious discussion until their next meeting.
• Gu Nanfeng revealed that Old Master had invited him and Gu Shen to dinner the next evening, leaving Gu Shen to speculate about the reason.

Gu Nanfeng confronted Old Master Gu Qilin over Nagano’s response to the Apostle case and the Gu Family’s future. He demanded to become the family head if Gu Changzhi could not awaken, leaving the two generations facing their first direct showdown in eight years.

• Gu Shen and Gu Nanfeng discussed Old Master’s past, Gu Nanfeng’s upbringing, and why Old Master might have asked to meet Gu Shen.
• Gu Shen and Gu Nanfeng arrived at a private dinner with Gu Qilin and two powerful guardians at the North of the River Hotel.
• After a silent meal, Gu Nanfeng demanded negotiations with Dadu and the Five Great Families to oppose the Awakening Act and investigate the Apostle case.
• Gu Qilin warned that Gu Nanfeng’s plan could split the Gu Family and provoke war, while Gu Nanfeng argued that conflict might be unavoidable.
• Gu Nanfeng revealed that he had obtained the Token Crest from the City of Light and warned that Nagano’s peace would not last if the truth about Qingzhong emerged.
• Gu Nanfeng declared that if Gu Changzhi could not awaken, he wanted to become the Gu Family’s official head.

Gu Nanfeng discussed reclaiming the Gu family’s scattered power and stopping the Awakening Act with Gu Qilin, who revealed that he had rejected Gu Lushen’s proposed reunification. After giving Gu Nanfeng a document envelope, Gu Qilin took Gu Shen to the rooftop and explained that he had invited him simply because he liked him.

• Gu Qilin told Gu Nanfeng that the family-head title belonged to whoever was strong enough to claim it and urged him to bring peace to the Gu family.
• Gu Nanfeng proposed gathering external allies and preventing the Awakening Act from passing, arguing that the New Faction might be connected to the Outer Continent.
• Gu Qilin revealed that Gu Lushen had offered reunification in exchange for abolishing the family-head system, but Gu Qilin had refused.
• Gu Qilin gave Gu Nanfeng a document envelope, then invited Gu Shen to join him on the rooftop.
• Gu Shen asked why Gu Qilin had arranged the banquet, and Gu Qilin said he had invited him because they shared the Gu name and he found him pleasing to the eye.

Gu Qilin told Gu Shen that Zhou Jiren, Luo Er, and Zhong Wei had remained inside the Piyue City Disaster Zone after discovering a sea route that might lead to the Old World. As North Continent guarded the anomaly and waited for them, Gu Qilin warned that the news could unsettle Nagano and offered Gu Shen the Gu family's protection.

• Gu Qilin revealed that Zhou Jiren, Luo Er, and Zhong Wei were still inside the Piyue City Disaster Zone after a group of survivors was sent out.
• Gu Shen watched Zhong Wei's transmitted footage, in which he requested that North Continent protect the Disaster Zone and described a sea route that might lead to the Old World.
• Gu Qilin explained that North Continent had deployed the Fourth Legion to guard the Disaster Zone and evacuate Piyue City residents, since destroying it could erase the route's connection point.
• Gu Qilin told Gu Shen that the route could offer a path toward the Old World and that Zhou Jiren might not return for a long time.
• Gu Qilin warned that Zhou Jiren's absence could lead to Zhu Wang becoming acting Grand Arbiter, then offered the Gu family's protection after Han Dang's actions against Gu Shen.

Bai Lu stayed in the Bai Clan Ancestral Hall after Gu Shen’s ominous prophecy, but Bai Chen told her that Bai Xiu had returned. Meanwhile, Gu Shen studied the Qingzhong array patterns with Grave Fiend before receiving Bai Xiu’s file, which rated him S-rank.

• Bai Lu secluded herself in the ancestral hall, trusting the mysterious girl from her dream and searching for answers about the Ning River memory.
• Bai Chen told Bai Lu that Bai Xiu had returned, startling her.
• Gu Shen questioned Grave Fiend about the Ancient Text array patterns, and Lu Nan Jin’s Wooden Sword punished Grave Fiend for insulting her.
• Gu Nanfeng and Luo Yu returned with Bai Xiu’s file, which listed his Thunder Realm Walker ability and recommended an S-rank rating.

Gu Shen learned that Bai Xiu had returned to Nagano after completing his trial, while the Bai Clan concealed an assassination attempt that had killed his protector, Qu Long. At the ancestral hall, Bai Xiu challenged the clan’s refusal to honor Qu Long and told its elders they had disappointed him.

• Gu Shen reviewed Bai Xiu’s flawless record and learned that the mysterious Thunder Realm Walker had never revealed his full strength.
• Gu Shen used Chu Ling’s surveillance to realize Bai Xiu had returned and gone to the Bai Clan Ancestral Hall instead of appearing at Snow Forbidden City’s gates.
• The Second Elder told Bai Chen that an assassin had attacked Bai Xiu in the Frozen Wasteland, that Qu Long had died protecting him, and that someone within the Bai Clan had leaked Bai Xiu’s whereabouts.
• Bai Xiu stood with Bai Lu in the rain and questioned whether his lowly origins had led to the attempt on his life, then wondered whether he should pretend to smile for the waiting crowd.
• Bai Xiu asked the elders to honor Qu Long, but they refused to give the Life-Offering Person a stele or name and urged Bai Xiu to keep the assassination secret.
• Bai Xiu told the elders that they had disappointed him too much.

Gu Shen studied Qingzhong’s Ancient Text array patterns under Master Chino, who suggested the Grave Fiend might be connected to the rumored Eighth God’s Throne. After a day of study, Gu Shen returned to the mist-shrouded hill and learned that the mysterious young man waiting there wanted to request a stele in Qingzhong.

• Gu Shen visited Master Chino to improve his understanding of Ancient Text array patterns and asked why the Grave Fiend could read passive text.
• Master Chino explained that the Divination Technique could not calculate the Grave Fiend and speculated that he might be connected to the Eighth God’s Throne and the Old World.
• Master Chino directed Gu Shen to an array pattern at a small hill, where he completed its comprehension and found a young man waiting in the mist to meet her.
• Master Chino refused to meet the young man, while Gu Shen continued repairing and comprehending five more array patterns through the day.
• Master Chino sent Gu Shen back to the hill, where the young man revealed that he wished to request a stele in Qingzhong.

Gu Shen gave the man beneath Qingzhong Mountain the name Yu Shu and warned him that someone named Zheng wanted to kill him. Bai Xiu used the clue to expose Bai Buzheng as a likely accomplice in an assassination, then headed toward Huaiyin as Bai Lu warned him that a formidable new genius had appeared in Snow Forbidden City.

• Gu Shen relayed the name Yu Shu and warned the young man that his would-be killer had Zheng in his name.
• Bai Xiu announced he would travel to Huaiyin to investigate Path Guardian Qu Long, then recognized Bai Buzheng’s name as matching Gu Shen’s warning.
• Bai Xiu questioned Bai Buzheng about the assassination, exposed his rehearsed alibi, and blasted apart his leg when he tried to flee.
• Bai Zesheng promised to investigate Bai Buzheng’s links to the assassin, while Bai Xiu said he would leave for Huaiyin the next day.
• Bai Lu asked Bai Xiu to enter the Rookie Competition, but he said he was not yet strong enough and she warned him that a formidable genius had appeared in Snow Forbidden City.

Bai Xiu rejected the Bai Family’s attempt to push him into competing against Gu Shen, then met Gu Shen at Qingzhong without either realizing the other’s identity. After Master Chino explained that Bai Xiu had come seeking a tombstone for Yu Shu, who died saving him, she urged Gu Shen to visit an old place again; meanwhile, news of Bai Xiu’s visit to Qingzhong fueled rumors that he intended to challenge Gu Shen.

• Bai Lu urged Bai Xiu to compete against Gu Shen, but Bai Xiu said he did not consider Gu Shen an opponent and would fight him only if they met as equals.
• Bai Lu told Bai Xiu that Gu Shen had warned her of an ominous reading, prompting Bai Xiu to leave in the storm.
• Gu Shen realized that the visitor seeking a tombstone for Yu Shu was Bai Xiu, and Master Chino explained that Yu Shu had sacrificed himself to save Bai Xiu from an assassination attempt.
• Master Chino performed a divination and told Gu Shen that Bai Xiu’s favor would become valuable, then suggested Gu Shen visit an old place again.
• Wind Eye tracked Bai Xiu to Qingzhong, and the Deep Water Zone Forum erupted with speculation that he had gone there to challenge Gu Shen.

Gu Shen and Bai Xiu met peacefully at Qingzhong, where they buried Yu Shu and discussed the assassination attempt and their different paths. After Gu Shen left the cemetery, Bai Xiu withdrew from this year's Rookie Competition, while the Bai Family head examined Wind Eye footage that revealed a mysterious patch of snow in Gu Shen's shadow.

• Bai Xiu thanked Gu Shen for his warnings, said Bai Buzheng would die that night, and asked him to help choose a grave for Yu Shu.
• Gu Shen helped Bai Xiu bury Yu Shu in the Outer Tomb, and they discussed Yu Shu's resting place, their identities, and the Rookie Competition.
• Gu Shen warned Bai Xiu that the assassination might be part of a larger plot and that the assassin could escape the tundra; Bai Xiu said he would remember the warning.
• Gu Shen left Qingzhong and met Luo Yu, Gong Zi, and Shen Li, then told Gong Zi that Bai Xiu would not enter this year's Rookie Competition.
• The Bai Family head asked Deep Sea to analyze Gu Shen's records, and Bai Chen recalled sensing a power that resonated with and suppressed his bloodline.
• The Bai Family head slowed Wind Eye footage of Gu Shen and noticed a patch of snow appearing in his shadow as he landed in Han Dang's Truth Domain.

Bai Zesheng brought the dying Bai Buzheng to Yinta and forced him to reveal that the missing assassin was hiding in Warehouse C29, the Safe House. Bai Zesheng went there alone to lure the assassin out, while the blizzard disrupted communications and left the arrest team waiting in darkness.

• Bai Zesheng escorted the nearly dead Bai Buzheng to Yinta, which the Bai Clan had sealed and exposed to the blizzard.
• Bai Zesheng injected Bai Buzheng with a mind-stimulating drug and gave him one minute to call the assassin.
• Bai Buzheng contacted the assassin and mentioned meeting at the Safe House, but the brief call ended before Deep Sea could locate the caller.
• Bai Buzheng revealed that the Safe House was Warehouse C29 before dying.
• Bai Zesheng wore a human-skin mask and headed alone to Warehouse C29 as Nagano's elite warriors surrounded the area.
• The blizzard disrupted communications near Warehouse C29, leaving Bai Zesheng and the waiting warriors without contact.

Bai Zesheng staged his own stabbing and burned a body to help Mr. Jin escape Yinta after the assassination of Bai Xiu failed. Mr. Jin was restored by God's Throne, while the God of Wine's Throne faced Sky God's Throne and remained blind under Gu Changzhi's threat.

• Bai Zesheng blamed Mr. Jin for the failed assassination, then stabbed himself and burned a substitute body so Mr. Jin could escape Yinta.
• Yinta's reinforcements found Bai Zesheng unconscious, and the Bai Family head told Bai Xiu that the case was closed; Bai Xiu said he still believed someone beyond Nagano had ordered the assassination.
• Bai Xiu declined the Bai Family head's offer to accompany him to Huaiyin and said he wanted to be alone.
• God of Wine's Throne used the Mental Link to restore Mr. Jin and ordered him to return alive to the Central Continent.
• Sky God's Throne confronted the blind God of Wine's Throne at the Source Tower, questioned whether Gu Changzhi had killed the King of the Underworld, and warned that he might attack if the God of Wine's Throne remained blind.