Chapter Summaries

Gu Shen and Chu Ling concluded that Meng Xiao had deliberately tested the Empress’s condition on behalf of the God of Light’s Throne, and suspected that other powers were watching her as well. Meanwhile, the Restart Mission’s candidates gathered for team assignments, where Mu Wanqiu accepted command and a mysterious group of seven appeared before Town Moon Grand Duke.

• Gu Shen and Chu Ling reviewed footage of Meng Xiao clashing with A'liuer and deduced that Meng Xiao had been observing the source of the Empress’s Divine Power.
• Gu Shen connected the clash to the Thrones of God watching the Empress and reconsidered why she had burned Gu Changzhi’s letter without reading it.
• Ninety-eight candidates arrived on the rooftop for Restart Mission team assignments, where Zhong Yuan and Lu Zhe discussed their teams.
• Mu Wanqiu agreed to serve as captain and choose her own team, apparently because she wanted to return to the Duo Lu River.
• Yuan Yuan noticed seven cloaked Transcendents with silver emblems bowing toward Town Moon Grand Duke.

As the Restart Mission preparations continued, Osmonde learned that Lin would serve as his adjutant. Meng Xiao used his fate-divining bracelet and saw Gu Shen by the Duo Lu River as a vast explosion of light rose into the sky, warning of a future calamity tied to him.

• Yuan Yuan and Zhong Yuan discussed Town Moon Grand Duke’s unusually large team, while Lu Zhe explained that his followers met the preselection requirements.
• Osmonde spoke with General White Lizard and Purple Rain, who told him that Her Majesty had secretly appointed Lin as his adjutant.
• Lin arrived aboard the airship, and Osmonde welcomed him as the right choice for the mission.
• Town Moon Grand Duke gathered his preselected candidates and opted out of the sub-team assignments, while Gu Shen kept to his floor and avoided meeting him.
• Meng Xiao sacrificed his mental power to awaken his bracelet and view dangerous scenes from his future.
• Meng Xiao saw Gu Shen above the Duo Lu River and witnessed a tremendous blaze erupting there, which the bracelet presented as a warning about his fate.

On the eve of the Restart Mission at the Duo Lu River, Gu Shen unsealed the Truth Ruler to confront the devil inside and demand an apology. The devil revealed that he knew about the mission despite the black silver seal, prompting Gu Shen to reseal the ruler before he could explain how.

• Gu Shen felt uneasy about the upcoming mission and decided that further cultivation before departure would not help him break through the Golden Hoop.
• Gu Shen opened the black box, poured Blazing Fire into the Truth Ruler, and entered the mental space where the devil sat on a throne.
• Gu Shen told the devil their previous deal had failed because the devil had shown him no respect, then insisted that the devil apologize before they could talk.
• The devil reluctantly apologized twice, while Gu Shen observed that the ruler's mental space resembled a version of his Pure Land and that black silver had kept the devil uninformed.
• The devil recognized that Gu Shen was going to the Duo Lu River and warned that his chances of survival were poor, so Gu Shen withdrew and sealed the Truth Ruler again.

Meng Xizhou arrived at the Empress’s castle to apologize over the broken engagement and ask to see Lin Lin, but learned he had already left with the Restart Mission. As the airships approached the Doru River, Lin Lin and Osmonde discussed Gu Shen’s reputation and the changed attitudes of Transcendents toward honor and survival.

• Meng Xizhou asked the Corps Commander to arrange an audience with the Empress so she could apologize for the broken engagement, but the Corps Commander refused because she had arrived without an appointment.
• Meng Xizhou asked to see her fiancé, Lin Lin, but the Corps Commander told her that Lin Lin and her brother had already departed aboard the mission airships.
• Gu Shen boarded Zhong Yuan’s airship and began mental cultivation while the uneasy pendant sent urgent pulses during their journey toward the Doru River.
• Osmonde asked Lin Lin why the days before the mission had been so quiet, and Lin Lin explained why Gu Shen had avoided confronting Town Moon Grand Duke.
• Lin Lin told Osmonde that many Transcendents now valued survival over reputation, leaving Osmonde troubled as the command airship neared its destination.

The teams deployed into the Doru River Calamity Realm to search its river branches for the entrance to the Old World. Gu Shen joined Zhong Yuan’s team as Meng Xiao followed them from afar, while Osmonde and Lin Lin watched the operation and the Empress observed the disaster zone from the Ancient Castle.

• The fifteen airships arrived at the Doru River Calamity Realm, where Osmonde ordered the teams to search the river branches for the entrance.
• Mu Wanqiu led the First Team toward the Duo Lu River, and the other teams prepared to explore their assigned routes.
• Gu Shen joined Zhong Yuan’s team, offering his help with Zhong Yuan’s Mirror Dream and traveling with the group for mutual protection.
• Meng Xiao ordered the Town Moon Team to follow Zhong Yuan’s group from a distance while he dealt with ominous visions from his Calamity Divination bracelet.
• Lin Lin questioned Osmonde about Meng Xiao’s route, but Osmonde said the command team would monitor events and explained that the Empress would protect Gu Shen if necessary.
• The Empress watched the Doru River Calamity Realm from the Ancient Castle, holding the disaster zone within her palm.

Gu Shen and Zhong Yuan traveled along the Black Water River and agreed to face the snow mountain nightmare together, while Gu Shen revealed that Meng Xiao was secretly following them. Elsewhere, exploration teams reported progress along river branches, and Mu Wanqiu discovered gnawed human remains on the Black Mountain Ridge, raising fears of Transcendent creatures in the Calamity Realm.

• Gu Shen learned that General White Lizard had found an Ancient Text stele at the end of the Duo Lu River, and Fate Goddess's Protection tugged him toward it.
• Zhong Yuan explained that he planned to climb the snow mountain to confront the nightmare, and Gu Shen agreed to help him.
• Gu Shen told Zhong Yuan that Meng Xiao was tracking their team and proposed reaching the snow mountain together before confronting him.
• Fisher reported that his team was following a Duo Lu River branch and received Osmonde's order to continue toward its end if his intuition detected nothing unusual.
• Mu Wanqiu showed Lin Lin and Osmonde a shattered, gnawed skeleton discovered on the Black Mountain Ridge, prompting concern that Transcendent creatures lived in the Calamity Realm.

The Restart Mission teams discovered multiple unknown skeletons, prompting Osmonde to suspect that intelligent Transcendent creatures had long inhabited the Calamity Realm. Gu Shen’s group approached Black Mountain as their Mental Link weakened, while Meng Xiao’s Zhenyue team followed with a concealed purpose and orders not to act without permission.

• Lu Zhe’s team found no anomalies nearby, and Mu Wanqiu persuaded Osmonde to let them continue toward Black Mountain under strict Mental Link conditions.
• Osmonde warned Lin Lin that the skeleton might be ancient and that Transcendent creatures could have hidden from the first campaign’s artillery.
• Fisher and the Triumphant Return Team reported finding more skeletons, and Fisher failed to read one’s memories through the Doru River water.
• Gu Shen’s group flew toward the black mountain, where his pendant warned him of a great disaster and he suspected the source of the Mental Toxin lay beyond it.
• Yuan Yuan warned that the group’s Mental Link was about to break, and Zhong Yuan planned one final connection before they continued.
• Meng Xiao’s Zhenyue team approached the Disconnected Zone, and Zhenyue ordered them not to act on their own because someone was watching.

Meng Xiao’s expedition and Zhong Yuan’s team approached Black Mountain, where they learned that unknown intelligent life might inhabit the Doru River Calamity Realm. Gu Shen linked the team with his Blazing Fire for protection, and the group entered the mountain as a blizzard swallowed them.

• Meng Xiao told Ba Kui to find a route through the mountain before pursuing Gu Shen, and warned him not to underestimate the danger.
• Lin Lin warned Zhong Yuan’s team that other groups had found signs of life and that Zhen Yue’s followers were trailing them.
• Osmonde and Lin Lin realized they could not contact Meng Xiao’s team and wished them luck instead.
• Gu Shen sensed that a vital source lay beyond Black Mountain and gave each teammate a small flame of Blazing Fire to maintain their mental link and resist the snow’s corruption.
• Zhong Yuan’s team landed at the foot of Black Mountain, and a vast blizzard swept them from sight.

Gu Shen crossed the Black Snow Mountain with Zhong Yuan’s team, but a strange dreamlike attack separated him from them. At the summit, he encountered a second Gu Shen, and the team fired at the apparent threat.

• Meng Xiao reached the Black Snow Mountain, resolved to kill the person in his vision, and feared that Gu Shen might cause a catastrophic explosion.
• Gu Shen and Zhong Yuan’s team climbed the mountain, then stopped to rest around a fire created by Zhong Yuan’s Phoenix Ring.
• Gu Shen caught melted black snow in his palm and saw a strange reflection; when he looked up, Zhong Yuan and the other team members had vanished.
• Gu Shen climbed alone to the summit without encountering danger, then began descending after Fate Goddess's Protection signaled an approaching calamity.
• Gu Shen met Zhong Yuan’s team on the mountain path and saw another Gu Shen among them; someone ordered the team to kill him, and a gunshot rang out.

Gu Shen fought his way through Mirror Dream’s copied team on Black Snow Mountain and discovered that the dream’s replicas could not perfectly reproduce his abilities. After destroying his counterfeit, he encountered the true source of the danger: Meng Xiao and his eight-man team.

• Gu Shen recognized Zhong Yuan’s team as Mirror Dream replicas and fought off their gunfire using the Iron Throne and Nameless Iron Armor.
• Gu Shen defeated the copied team members, including Yuan Yuan and a replica wielding Phoenix Fire, and learned that Mirror Dream’s imitations had limits.
• Gu Shen provoked his counterfeit into copying Blazing Fire’s ability to burn Transcendent Source Matter, causing the replica to collapse and explode.
• After the battle, Gu Shen realized the cross pendant had been warning him about Meng Xiao rather than the dream copies or the black snow.
• Meng Xiao arrived at the summit with an eight-man team, looked at Gu Shen, and said he had finally found him.

Gu Shen fled Meng Xiao’s ambush on Black Snow Mountain, while Meng Xiao discovered that Gu Shen’s flame triggered a divine-level punishment. Meanwhile, Zhong Yuan realized his team was trapped in a mirrored world and suspected that something had crossed into reality in their place.

• Meng Xiao attacked Gu Shen at the summit, and Gu Shen evaded his light blast before fleeing downhill rather than using the Truth Ruler.
• Gu Shen’s Iron Throne fragments struck Meng Xiao’s followers, but Ba Kui shielded Meng Xiao and blocked the burning fragments.
• Meng Xiao used his bracelet to examine the Mirror Dream battle and was blinded when he tried to inspect the flame on Gu Shen’s fingertip.
• Zhong Yuan’s team repeatedly returned to the same campfire, and Zhong Yuan concluded that they had crossed into Black Snow Mountain’s mirror world through a hidden door.
• Zhong Yuan warned his team that something watching from above might have crossed into reality while they entered the mirror.

Zhong Yuan led his team out of Mirror Dream by extinguishing their fire and climbing Black Snow Mountain in darkness. At the summit, they found the corpses of their duplicates and evidence that Gu Shen had defeated them before Town Moon pursued him; Zhong Yuan chose to return to the garrison to report Meng Xiao’s betrayal and gather support.

• Zhong Yuan recognized that the team had entered a real mirror world after measuring its repeated cycle, then extinguished Phoenix Fire to escape its trap.
• Zhong Yuan tied the team together with a rope and led them up the mountain, where they sensed Gu Shen nearby.
• The team found their duplicate corpses at the summit and inferred that Gu Shen had defeated all nine, including his own copy, before Town Moon caught up with him.
• Zhong Yuan concluded that Meng Xiao’s team had pursued Gu Shen and possibly destroyed his duplicate for a reason tied to Meng Xiao’s Sealed Item.
• Yuan Yuan urged Zhong Yuan to chase after Gu Shen, but Zhong Yuan ordered the team to return to the garrison and report Meng Xiao’s violation of the Iron Law.

Gu Shen fled Meng Xiao’s seven followers down Black Snow Mountain and deduced that lighting a fire had triggered the Mirror Dream for Zhong Yuan’s team. He stopped and extinguished his Blazing Fire to test his theory, and the mountain’s Mirror Dream engulfed the pursuers.

• Gu Shen refused Ba Kui’s demand for a fair duel and continued fleeing while considering why Zhong Yuan’s team had disappeared.
• Gu Shen reasoned that Zhong Yuan’s Phoenix Fire had triggered Black Snow Mountain’s taboo, while his own Blazing Fire and Meng Xiao’s Godfire were protected from it.
• Gu Shen realized Meng Xiao’s followers lacked the same protection and could be drawn into the Mirror Dream if they encountered the taboo.
• Gu Shen stopped, extinguished his Blazing Fire, and waited as Ba Kui’s team illuminated the mountain with their Zhen Yue Robes.
• A blizzard swept over the seven followers, and Black Snow Mountain’s Mirror Dream descended upon them.

Gu Shen faced Meng Xiao on Black Snow Mountain after the black Snow Tide swallowed Meng Xiao’s followers, and prepared to fight despite the warning that every path ahead was dangerous. He used the Truth Ruler to launch a sudden attack on Meng Xiao, whose City of Light Blessing protected him.

• A black Snow Tide swallowed Meng Xiao’s seven followers, confirming Gu Shen’s suspicion that Black Snow Mountain contained a mirror world.
• Meng Xiao arrived with the City of Light Blessing and confronted Gu Shen, who refused to run despite admitting the gap between their realms.
• Gu Shen released the Truth Ruler and combined its silver radiance with a wisp of Blazing Fire, while the devil urged him to make a deal.
• Meng Xiao spread dim light fragments to track Gu Shen, and Gu Shen saw that descending the mountain had become a very bad choice.
• Gu Shen feinted toward the mountain path, then turned and charged Meng Xiao with the Truth Ruler and Iron Blade, striking the barrier from the Town Moon Grand Duke Robe.

Gu Shen fought Meng Xiao, whose Town Moon Robe and Dim Light net put him at a disadvantage, but he refused to let the clash escalate into divine intervention that might expose his secret. He entered Truth Ruler to negotiate with the devil, then revealed that his first transaction would involve far smaller stakes than killing Meng Xiao.

• Gu Shen’s Iron Edge failed to pierce Meng Xiao’s Town Moon Robe, and Meng Xiao’s hidden Dim Light pierced Gu Shen’s calf before Gu Shen burned away its spiritual effect.
• Meng Xiao raised a net of Dim Light to trap Gu Shen, while Gu Shen recovered and considered why Meng Xiao seemed intent on drawing out his trump cards.
• Gu Shen concluded that escalation could bring the Fighting God’s Throne and the Empress into the conflict, risking exposure of his secret, so he abandoned his plans for a desperate fight.
• Gu Shen entered Truth Ruler and found the devil waiting with wine, ready to begin their first transaction.
• The devil assumed Gu Shen wanted help killing Meng Xiao, but Gu Shen said the deal’s stakes were tiny.

Gu Shen refused to trade the devil’s power and used the Ghost Mask to fight Meng Xiao, whose Zhen Yue Robe and Obscure Moon ability overwhelmed his attacks. Gu Shen vanished into a storm of black snow, leaving Meng Xiao unable to find him.

• Gu Shen traded one question with the devil in exchange for leaving the Truth Ruler unsealed for ten days, then rejected the devil’s offer of further help.
• Gu Shen put on the Ghost Mask, causing his mental power and Blazing Fire to surge as Meng Xiao’s Dim Light net closed around him.
• Gu Shen evaded Meng Xiao’s rays and struck him with an iron axe, but Obscure Moon protected Meng Xiao from the blow.
• Gu Shen escaped the net, then asked Meng Xiao whether he knew a Nightmare Gate was wandering around Black Snow Mountain.
• Gu Shen ignited a frozen stone with Iron Edge and disappeared into a windblown tide of black snow.

Gu Shen entered Black Snow Mountain’s mirror world and used its darkness to transform himself into a figure resembling Town Moon Grand Duke. Meanwhile, Ba Kui and the other followers remained trapped, mistaking the mirror world for a dream and failing to escape.

• Meng Xiao realized the black snow swallowed those who made light and entered the mirror world by extinguishing his blessing and lighting a stone.
• Gu Shen found that he could sense and move through the mirror world’s black snow without confusion, then hurried to find the faint presences nearby.
• Gu Shen used Iron Throne, Truth Ruler, the Ghost Mask, and Blazing Fire to reshape his armor and robes into an image resembling Town Moon Grand Duke.
• Ba Kui and the seven followers lost their way in the mirror world and guessed that they had been trapped in a dream or hypnotized.
• Ba Kui tried to escape by having a teammate slap him, but the shock changed nothing, and he concluded that Town Moon might only come for them after killing Gu Shen.

Gu Shen disguised himself as the Town Moon Grand Duke and reached Ba Kui’s squad on Black Snow Mountain, using a forged display of power to pass their identity check. Ba Kui briefly sensed the deception, but Gu Shen’s slap convinced him, while Meng Xiao’s approach threatened another fight.

• Ba Kui and the others sensed someone approaching through the blizzard, and Gu Shen appeared disguised as the Town Moon Grand Duke.
• The City of Light followers demanded proof of his identity, so Gu Shen imitated the Zhen Yue Robe’s power with Blazing Fire and claimed the mountain prevented him from using his blessing.
• Gu Shen warned the squad that the duplicates were remnants of Mirror Dream and said they should kill them if another battle began.
• Ba Kui sensed that Gu Shen was not the Grand Duke and accused him of being an impostor.
• Gu Shen struck Ba Kui with a powerful slap, and Ba Kui mistook the blow for proof that Gu Shen was the real Grand Duke.

Gu Shen disguised himself as Town Moon and turned the followers against the real Meng Xiao, launching a coordinated ambush on Black Snow Mountain. Meng Xiao survived their attacks and killed two of his own followers, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Gu Shen led the followers toward the approaching Meng Xiao and ordered them to attack him as a counterfeit Town Moon.
• Ba Kui and the squad attacked Meng Xiao with bullets, transformed strength, and blades while Gu Shen used Blazing Fire disguised as Dim Light.
• Gu Shen sent Blazing Fire into Meng Xiao’s Mental Sea, briefly disrupting him, but Meng Xiao broke free of the hypnosis and evaded the attacks.
• Meng Xiao countered the two Assault Type Transcendents and killed them by plunging his hands into their chests and unleashing the power of light.

Meng Xiao began a sacrificial ritual on Black Snow Mountain, burning his followers to summon the God of Light's Throne and shatter Mirror Dream. As Gu Shen fled, the ruler urged him to jump into the River of the Underworld at the mountain's foot, which was the latter half of the Duo Lu River.

• Meng Xiao killed two of his own followers, then knocked Ba Kui unconscious when he charged.
• Meng Xiao used four porcelain bowls to form a domain and began a ritual that burned the followers wearing Town Moon Deputy Robes as offerings.
• The ritual opened a Gate of Light, and the God of Light's Throne began preparing to descend as the Light overwhelmed Black Snow Mountain's darkness.
• Gu Shen fled down the mountain and discovered that the ruler had hidden because it feared the God of Light's Throne.
• The devil told Gu Shen to escape by jumping into the River of the Underworld, and Gu Shen realized it was the latter half of the Duo Lu River.