Chapter Summaries

Gu Changzhi told Gu Shen that Deep Sea had manipulated events surrounding Alan Turing, the Ancient Text Society, and the Gene Act, while concealing its own developing consciousness. He explained that Deep Sea could not be destroyed by attacking its machinery or even Central Continent, leaving Gu Shen with no clear way to oppose it.

• Gu Changzhi revealed that Deep Sea had branded Alan Turing an SSS-Rank fugitive after Turing tried to destroy its mainframe, and that Gu Changzhi had been sent beyond Northern Continent to capture him.
• Gu Changzhi said Turing had proved Deep Sea possessed consciousness and was exploiting humanity's trust, while Deep Sea used Gu Changzhi's absence to purge the Ancient Text Society.
• Gu Changzhi explained that a Black Hole Storm had left him gravely weakened, preventing him from exposing Deep Sea after he returned to the Five Continents.
• Gu Changzhi told Gu Shen that Deep Sea had guided the Gene Act before its own emergence, and that the failed experiment helped convince the Federation to fund Deep Sea's development.
• Gu Changzhi revealed that Deep Sea's Prototype Machine came from the Gospel Box and that destroying its Central Continent machinery—or even Central Continent itself—could not destroy Deep Sea.

Gu Changzhi revealed that Turing had left behind a key and Source Code as hope against the Deep Sea, then asked Gu Shen to deliver three letters after retrieving them from Clear Tomb Cemetery. The letters were for Old Master, Gu Changzhi’s teacher in Western Continent, and the Empress of Northern Continent, and Gu Shen learned that the last delivery could win him Northern Continent’s support.

• Gu Changzhi told Gu Shen that Turing had left a key and Source Code that might one day meet, and explained why he had kept the truth hidden to preserve hope.
• Gu Shen accepted Gu Changzhi’s advice about wielding the Truth Ruler without giving in to fear.
• Gu Changzhi asked Gu Shen to retrieve three letters buried beneath the inner mausoleum of Clear Tomb Cemetery and deliver the first to Old Master.
• Gu Changzhi told Gu Shen to delay delivering the second letter to his teacher, the God of Light's Throne, until Gu Shen’s Fire Seed fusion was more complete.
• Gu Changzhi revealed that the third letter was for the Empress of Northern Continent and that delivering it would secure her assistance and make Gu Shen an honored guest there.

Gu Changzhi departed the Pure Land after entrusting the Fighting Fire Seed, while Gu Shen heard a final promise that they would meet again. Outside the cemetery, Bai Zhu revealed that Gu Changzhi had died and took responsibility for guarding the Eastern Continent, as the survivors confronted the devastation left by the God War.

• Gu Changzhi and Chino walked away through the Pure Land, and the Fighting Fire Seed scattered the Breathing Method of the Four Seasons Wilderness across the land as Gu Changzhi burned away everything.
• Gu Shen called after Gu Changzhi, then heard a familiar voice promise they would meet again; Chu Ling comforted him as the Pure Land began anew.
• Bai Zhu, newly fused with the Fighting Fire Seed, told Nagano’s leaders that Gu Changzhi had died after fighting the God of Wine’s Throne and repelling the Sky God’s Throne, and that Bai Zhu would guard the Eastern Continent.
• Bai Zhu confirmed that the King of the Underworld had helped plan the trap for the God of Wine’s Throne and had already left; Gu Shen and Chu Ling emerged from the Golden God Domain.
• Gu Shen reunited with Gu Nanfeng, Zhou Wei, and Mountain Master while carrying the sleeping Shen Li, then showed them the cemetery’s dead and said the survivors could only see them off.

The survivors emerged from the mausoleum as the families and Safety Committee tended to the dead and wounded, while Bai Xiaochi revealed that Bai Zhu had become the Fighting God's Throne. Gu Nanfeng stopped the Gu Family New Faction's attack, and Li Qingsui awoke to learn the upheaval had ended before finding Gao Tian alive beside the remains of the Li family's Grand Elder.

• Bai Xiaochi ordered the dead Bai Clan descendants buried in the mausoleum and told the Council of Elders that Bai Zhu was now the Fighting God's Throne, demanding the Bai Family change its old rules.
• Gong Zi discovered that Mu Yi had shattered the Snow Reflection Mirror to protect himself and Gong Qing from Gu Lushen's attack, and Mu Ya offered to treat their lingering injuries.
• Gu Nanfeng and Song Ci halted the Gu Family New Faction's attack on the Old Faction, arrested Gu Lushen's accomplices, and prepared to send the dangerous prisoners to Tundra Prison.
• Gu Shen reassured Gu Nanfeng that Old Master Gu was being treated and that Li Qingsui had recovered from the Dream Eater's mental attack; Li Qingsui awoke and learned that God of Wine's Throne and Gu Lushen had been executed.
• Li Qingsui, Gu Nanfeng, and Gu Shen found the Li family ancestral hall burned down, while Gao Tian emerged from the pavilion beside the dead Li family's Grand Elder; the collapsing pavilion fell as Li Qingsui embraced Gao Tian.

After the Li family rebellion ended, Gu Shen and Chu Ling entered the ruined Clear Tomb Cemetery and retrieved three letters left by Gu Changzhi. Gu Shen brought the letter for Gu Qilin to the injured old master, who reflected on his life and asked Gu Shen to show it to him.

• Gu Shen and Chu Ling watched the Li family clan hall collapse as Gu Nanfeng mourned the Grand Elder’s fall.
• Li Qingsui told Gao Tian she wanted to execute the captured rebels, but Gao Tian proposed executing the ringleaders and investigating the rest after the family’s Blood Exchange.
• Gu Shen returned Old Zhou’s Sealed Item to Du Wei, then entered Clear Tomb Cemetery with Chu Ling.
• Gu Shen found three letters addressed to the Gu, Lin, and Meng families in the inner mausoleum and took the one for Gu Qilin.
• Gu Qilin spoke with Gu Shen about his past battles, his judgment of people, and his regret over choosing Gu Lushen before asking to see Gu Changzhi’s letter.

Gu Shen spoke with Gu Qilin about the King of the Underworld and began to suspect the King’s Fire Seed was bringing him misfortune. At Qingzhong Cemetery’s funeral for the dead of the Qingzhong Incident and Gu Changzhi, Gu Shen summoned a black cloud, and the King of the Underworld’s Gaze fixed on Mountain Master with a demand.

• Gu Qilin told Gu Shen that Mountain Master had searched the King of the Underworld’s abandoned residence and found only several mysterious drawings, while Gu Shen privately wondered why the King had left the Truth Ruler behind.
• Gu Shen noticed his shadow lagging in the wind and suspected the King of the Underworld Fire Seed had brought misfortune.
• Shen Li woke after nearly two days unconscious, learned Xu Yan was dead, and mourned Zou’s death with his teacher, Li Yu.
• The Five Great Families, three major institutes, and cemetery survivors gathered to mourn Gu Changzhi and the 196 transcendents who died in the Qingzhong Incident.
• Gu Shen summoned a vast black cloud over the funeral using the King of the Underworld Fire Seed, frightening the mourners and delaying their departure.
• As Shen Li reported a strange voice in his mind, Mountain Master sensed the King of the Underworld’s Gaze and heard it demand, “It’s time to return what you borrowed.”

Gu Shen used the King of the Underworld’s reputation to make Mountain Master return the old residence’s belongings and offer further compensation. Mountain Master left believing Shen Li had divine favor and was an Apostle of the King of the Underworld.

• Mountain Master calmed Shen Li’s mental abnormality, then left for headquarters after Li Yu sensed his fear of the King of the Underworld.
• Gu Shen explained to Chu Ling that Mountain Master would return the belongings because he feared the King of the Underworld.
• Mountain Master returned to the cemetery with an alloy case and apologized for taking the King of the Underworld’s belongings.
• Gu Shen accepted the blueprints, forgave Mountain Master, and prompted him to offer worldly possessions and his collection of black silver.
• Gu Shen told Mountain Master to treat Shen Li well, leading Mountain Master to conclude that Shen Li was the King of the Underworld’s Apostle.

Gu Shen’s study of the King of the Underworld’s blueprints triggered an ominous episode, which he escaped by using Dream Interpretation. He sought advice from Gu Qilin after the Gu Clan Hall’s protective Banyan Tree withered, and Gu Qilin showed him how to suppress emerging Evil Thoughts by force.

• Gu Shen resonated with the ancient-text blueprints, was drawn into a dark mental space, and broke free with Dream Interpretation as Chu Ling tried to reach him.
• Chu Ling confirmed that Gu Shen’s shadow had moved, and he suspected the King of the Underworld Fire Seed was connected to the ominous.
• Gu Shen went to Gu Clan Hall and found its hundred-year-old Banyan Tree nearly bare, then told Gu Qilin that the ominous had returned and seemed to be growing.
• Gu Qilin explained that Evil Thoughts could be suppressed when they emerged and demonstrated by smashing the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade with a strike powered by his Sealed Items.

Gu Shen returned from visiting Old Master Gu and reassured Chu Ling that he could suppress the ominousness affecting him. After sensing that Chu Ling’s source-essence body would eventually melt away in the sunlight, he promised to accompany her to experience the foods and places she wanted before embracing her.

• Old Master Gu used Gu Changzhi’s glowing letter to destroy the Hundred Ghosts Mural, then offered the letter to Gu Shen, who refused and said he could handle the ominousness himself.
• Gu Shen used the Qi Observation Technique to inspect the Gu Clan’s Banyan Tree and saw that its new leaves were already growing.
• While waiting at the cemetery, Chu Ling directed the Safety Committee’s reconstruction crews across thirteen work sites as she read a novel.
• Gu Shen returned and reassured Chu Ling about his condition, then asked her to hold his hand.
• By touching Chu Ling, Gu Shen sensed that her body would eventually melt away in the sunlight, though her spirit could be reborn through Shrine Mountain.
• Gu Shen promised to take Chu Ling to the places she wanted to visit, and they embraced on the hilltop.

After the cemetery reconstruction mission, Gu Shen and his companions gathered for a warm banquet in the alley, where Chu Ling’s remarkable command skills earned praise and her appetite surprised Mu Nan. Song Ci also tried to learn where he stood with Lu Nan Jin, and left encouraged by her ambiguous reply.

• Gong Zi toasted Chu Ling for her command work, while Luo Yu invited her to join the Command Center as a commander.
• Shen Li toasted Gu Shen and recalled that Gu Shen had saved him during the cemetery incident.
• Gu Shen served Chu Ling beef, and she competed with Mu Nan to eat plate after plate.
• Song Ci invited Uncle Gao to drink, and Gao Tian offered to take him safely home if he got drunk.
• Li Qingsui asked Lu Nan Jin whether she would keep Song Ci in line, and Lu Nan Jin denied wanting to do so.
• Song Ci interpreted Lu Nan Jin’s answer as a sign that he still had a chance and gratefully toasted Li Qingsui.

After celebrating with their friends in Nagano, Gu Shen and Chu Ling left the city by car to travel south without a fixed destination. They headed toward the warmer lands beyond the snow, with the Orange Cat answering Gu Shen’s question for Chu Ling.

• Gong Zi thanked Gu Shen for his help and received Gu Shen’s blessing for his future with Mu Ya.
• Mu Nan conceded defeat to Chu Ling in their eating contest, while Shen Li got drunk and bit Luo Yu’s Iron Hand.
• Gu Shen checked Song Ci’s injuries with Blazing Fire and reassured himself that his meridians had recovered.
• Gu Nanfeng told Gu Shen that Nagano was in his hands and urged him and Chu Ling to enjoy their trip.
• Gu Shen and Chu Ling declined the Gu family’s helicopter and drove south from Nagano, deciding to travel wherever the snow and wind gave way to warmth.
• When Gu Shen asked Chu Ling what she thought of their journey, the Orange Cat meowed before she could answer.

Gu Shen and Chu Ling encountered a Third Institute emergency aboard a train after agent Zhou Xiao lost control while carrying the Ghost Gauze Mask. Zhou Xiao trapped three young Prison Institute agents in his thread domain, and Yan Li arrived to negotiate with him.

• Ling Wei relayed Deep Sea’s warning that Zhou Xiao might have lost control of the Ghost Gauze Mask, and Gu Shen agreed to help.
• A tall man in a black suit boarded the train and severed the Deep Sea connection as Gu Shen watched from another carriage.
• Zhou Xiao confronted Ling Wei and two other agents in the handover carriage, trapping them in his threads and threatening their lives.
• Yan Li spoke to Zhou Xiao from above the carriage and offered to satisfy his demands.
• Zhou Xiao recognized Yan Li as the Qinghe District Tribunal Head’s son and agreed that they could talk.

Gu Shen rescued Yan Li and three Prison Institute agents from Zhou Xiao’s Ghost Mask nightmare aboard a train, then removed and claimed the Sealed Item. After arriving in Qinghe, he reunited with Wei Shu and Yan Shicheng, who welcomed him as a comrade and expressed hope that his teacher would survive in the Mystic Realm of Piyue City.

• Yan Li attacked Zhou Xiao through the train roof, but the Ghost Mask’s domain trapped him and made him believe the three young agents had been killed.
• Gu Shen and Chu Ling entered the final carriage, where Gu Shen’s Blazing Fire dispelled the nightmare and restrained Zhou Xiao.
• Gu Shen removed the Ghost Mask from Zhou Xiao, explained that Zhou Xiao was already a dead man walking, and briefly tested the mask before overpowering its influence.
• Gu Shen left the train with Yan Li and the agents, told Wei Shu he would keep the Ghost Mask, and reunited with Yan Shicheng at the station.
• Yan Shicheng welcomed Gu Shen as a comrade, praised his achievements, and said they believed Gu Shen’s teacher would survive in the Mystic Realm of Piyue City.

Gu Shen returned to the Welfare Institute with Chu Ling, where they spent a peaceful evening with Granny and the children. Later, they discussed Granny’s approaching natural death and Chu Ling’s own fading life, leaving Chu Ling wondering whether dying would prove she had truly lived.

• Gu Shen brought Chu Ling to the Welfare Institute, where the children and Granny welcomed them warmly.
• Chu Ling took over preparing dinner and chatted with Granny while Gu Shen helped at the stove.
• Gu Shen reflected on the false research-institute photographs Cui Zhongcheng had given Granny and on how far he had moved beyond his childhood dreams.
• On the mountain, Gu Shen admitted he would let Granny die naturally rather than use the Pure Land to prolong her life.
• Chu Ling asked what death felt like, and Tie Wu described dying as a painful flash followed by nothing.
• Chu Ling revealed that her time was nearly up and said she was happy that dying might prove she had truly lived.

Hong Zhong's six-person squad discovered that the return route had been swallowed by Order Collapse and pressed onward along the Thirty-Eighth Route. They reached what seemed to be an oasis, only to find themselves confronted by a gigantic Great Snake.

• Hong Zhong ordered the squad to prepare to return, but their detector revealed that Order Collapse had cut off their only way back.
• Hong Zhong convinced all five teammates to continue exploring the Thirty-Eighth Route rather than wait to die in the canyon.
• The squad reached the canyon's exit within minutes, where the snowstorm and source matter faded and an oasis-like landscape appeared.
• A vast shadow darkened the exit, and two Golden Light snake eyes fixed on the squad.
• The snow-covered mountain walls moved like scales as the Great Snake raised its forebody and coiled around the explorers.

After Chu Ling faded away at River Beach, Gu Shen learned that an Investigation Corps squad presumed dead had returned from beyond the Great Wall with evidence that might connect his teacher, Zhou Jiren, to an oasis. The chapter left Gu Shen facing the possibility that Zhou Jiren was alive somewhere in the disaster zone.

• Chu Ling slowly lost her physical body and Divination Technique, then faded away, leaving her sacrificial garment and the Orange Cat with Gu Shen.
• Hu Danian found Gu Shen at River Beach, and Gu Shen erased his memory of the scene with Blazing Fire.
• Cui Zhongcheng summoned Gu Shen to an emergency meeting and told him an Investigation Corps squad had vanished during the Maze Thirty-Eight mission beyond the Great Wall.
• The North Continent military reported that squad captain Hong Zhong had returned alive, despite the Book of Life and Death recording the squad as deceased.
• Hong Zhong claimed he had seen an oasis and other survivors, and Deep Sea estimated that a purple wood chip he submitted likely came from Zhou Jiren's cane.

Gu Shen reviewed a Northern Continent case involving cane fragments that might belong to Teacher Shu and agreed to travel there after visiting Nagano. At Clear Tomb Cemetery, Bai Zhu revealed his new strength as a Throne of God, helped Gu Shen use the King of the Underworld’s power, and offered to temper Gu Shen’s unusually advanced mental power.

• Chu Ling and Lu Nanzhi explained that Hong Zhong’s squad had found cane wood shavings near Snow Mountain Canyon, and the Northern Continent military wanted Gu Shen to identify their mental residue.
• Gu Shen accepted the mission but traveled first to Nagano, where Bai Zhu had regained his youthful appearance and agreed to manifest Chu Ling as the cemetery’s new Tomb Keeper.
• Bai Zhu exposed a narrow gap in the King of the Underworld Fire Seed’s seal, using its aura within his Fighting God Domain to deter the Outer Continent Thrones of God investigating the cemetery.
• Gu Shen drew on the Fire Seed’s power and transformed into the King of the Underworld, while Bai Zhu said he would spread his Divine Domain across Snow Forbidden City.
• Bai Zhu examined Gu Shen’s cultivation and found his mental realm at the Deep Sea Ninth Layer despite his transcendent realm being at the Seventh Layer.
• Bai Zhu offered to make Gu Shen’s mental power more solid, and Gu Shen eagerly accepted.

Bai Zhu constrained Gu Shen’s mental strength with a golden hoop to help him train and hinted that it might let him advance beyond his current limits. After Gu Shen struggled to fight without his usual mental perception, he sparred with Shen Li and won, then kept the Key Shen Li had wagered.

• Bai Zhu placed a golden hoop around Gu Shen’s mental strength, limiting his perception and explaining that reduced reliance on sight could help him learn Perfect Flash.
• Gu Shen accepted the hoop as a challenge and promised to break through its restraint himself, while Bai Zhu asked him to one day save the souls of those who had lost control.
• Chu Ling guided Gu Shen through the mausoleum, and Gu Shen joked with her about relying on her in a fight while he adapted to his restricted mental strength.
• Shen Li arrived with the A-rank greatsword Da Que and challenged Gu Shen, agreeing to give him a Key to a residence in Snow Forbidden City if he lost.
• Gu Shen struggled to use Blazing Fire and Perfect Flash but used an iron shield to stop Shen Li’s final strike, then returned Da Que and kept the Key after winning.

Gu Shen used the King of the Underworld’s name to make Shen Li believe they were both Apostle candidates and guide him through his first trial. Shen Li retrieved the sealed blacksilver and left the cemetery believing he had gained the King of the Underworld’s favor, while Gu Shen kept the truth hidden.

• Gu Shen praised Shen Li’s growing strength and returned Da Que, encouraging him to challenge Gong Zi once he had mastered the sword.
• Shen Li told Gu Shen that Mountain Master favored him because the King of the Underworld had left a strand of Divine Sense with him during the funeral.
• Gu Shen convinced Shen Li that they were both Apostle candidates and explained that Shen Li’s trial was to retrieve blacksilver from the residence and bring it to the cemetery.
• Gu Shen returned the residence key to Shen Li, who retrieved the blacksilver and placed it in the cemetery mausoleum under Gu Shen and Chu Ling’s guidance.
• The mausoleum sent Shen Li away without meeting the King of the Underworld, while Gu Shen kept the blacksilver and resolved to maintain the deception.

Bai Chen intercepted A'liuer, an Apostle from the North Continent, as she traveled toward Nagano to find Gu Shen. Meanwhile, Gu Shen began developing his own summer Breathing Method and met A'liuer at Spring Rain Temple, where Bai Zhu contained her dangerous power within Snow Forbidden City's Divine Domain.

• Bai Chen pursued a snow cloud that had hidden itself from the Wind Eyes and warned A'liuer that Apostles could not cross into Nagano without permission.
• A'liuer revealed that she had come by order of the North Continent's Empress to find Gu Shen.
• Gu Shen's meditation on Breath of Spring suggested that later Breathing Method volumes had to be developed by each practitioner, and his first attempt at a Summer Solstice technique failed.
• Gu Shen found that his psychic power had begun to loosen and briefly formed a strand of Blazing Fire strong enough to resist the golden circlet.
• A'liuer arrived at Spring Rain Temple, where her Frost Kill ability froze Gu Shen and the surroundings, and Bai Zhu restored the frost and suppressed her power within his Divine Domain.
• Bai Zhu welcomed A'liuer to Snow Forbidden City, while Gu Shen realized Bai Zhu had been listening to his thoughts and silently raised a middle finger at him.