Chapter Summaries

After the fleet crashed into the Duo Lu River, Osmonde gave Lin Lin his blade and ordered him to lead the breakout while he held off the Bone Winged Beings. Fisher arrived in time to save Osmonde and take up the rear, but the exhausted survivors remained trapped in a desperate fight, ending with Lin Lin insisting that the Empress would never abandon her subjects.

• The shockwave from the Traveler’s attack wrecked the fleet, and Osmonde linked the captains through the Mental Network as they fought the Bone Winged Beings in the river.
• Osmonde gave Lin Lin the saber Old Fellow, and Lin Lin used it to cut a path through the Bone Winged Beings while the captains followed.
• Osmonde named Lin Lin the new chief commander and stayed behind, using the Empress’s God-Given Eye and his dagger to hold off the pursuing forces until two fourth-rank beings overwhelmed him.
• Fisher arrived, killed both fourth-rank beings, caught the collapsing Osmonde, and expanded his Boundless Abyss domain to bring up the rear.
• As the breakout team continued through the river with its strength failing, Zhong Yuan asked Lin Lin whether the Empress would come, and Lin Lin answered that she would never abandon a single subject.

The Empress faced pressure from the God of Light, Sky, and Storm to open the Doru River Calamity Realm so they could pursue the Traveler and the eighth Fire Seed. Bai Zhu backed her refusal by threatening their Miracle Lands, and she left the meeting without yielding, allowing the gods to watch what happened inside.

• The Empress joined an emergency Highest Seat meeting, where the God of Light, Sky, and Storm confronted her over the Eighth God's Throne and the Traveler.
• Sky and Storm demanded that the Empress open the Calamity Realm, while the God of Light threatened to go there for the River Styx relic and mentioned the Blessed Child's misfortune.
• Bai Zhu warned that if the gods interfered in the Northern Continent, he would visit City of Light, Source Tower, and Storm God's Temple to claim compensation.
• The Empress rejected the gods' negotiations and threats, and Bai Zhu's warning forced the God of Light to back down.
• Sky revealed that he could see throughout the Calamity Realm, but the Empress departed and told the gods they could watch everything that happened there.

Gu Shen sought the devil’s help against the traveler, but the devil refused and revealed it wanted him to die so it could claim his body. As the traveler’s palm descended, the Empress arrived and stopped the attack.

• Gu Shen entered the Truth Ruler and offered the devil control of his body for ten minutes in exchange for help.
• The devil refused the deal, explaining that it wanted Gu Shen dead and hoped to find another host in Mu Wanqiu.
• Gu Shen vowed to drive the devil out of the Truth Ruler and tried to summon the Pure Land as the traveler’s palm fell toward him and Mu Wanqiu.
• The Empress appeared above the River Styx and stopped the traveler’s palm with one hand, apologizing for arriving late.

The Empress arrived in the Doru River Calamity Realm and unleashed twenty years of accumulated Frost Chill against the Traveler, overwhelming him while the Three Gods watched from the Conference Room. She trapped the still-living Traveler beneath her sword energy as the gods abandoned the battle.

• The Empress arrived, reassured the North's Transcendents, and freed Gu Shen and Mu Wanqiu from the Traveler's pressure with a punch.
• Gu Shen used Blazing Fire to stabilize Mu Wanqiu's mind while she watched the God War.
• The Empress pierced the Traveler, bound him with countless strands of sword energy, and unleashed the Great Cold accumulated in the North for twenty years.
• Storm, Light, and Sky realized the Empress had anticipated the battle and withdrew from the Conference Room rather than enter the calamity realm.
• The Empress trapped the regenerating Traveler beneath her sword energy, leaving him alive but unable to move.

The Empress defeated the Traveler and turned the tide of the battle at the River of the Underworld. As her Divine Domain revived North Continent’s exhausted fighters and her swords slaughtered the retreating Bone Winged Beings, the survivors celebrated victory while Zhong Yuan feared the Empress had noticed him.

• The Empress overwhelmed the Traveler with Frost Chill and sword energy, freezing him and ending the God War.
• The Empress told Lu Zhe that Mu Wanqiu and Gu Shen were alive, then sent him to complete his mission.
• North Continent’s fighters renewed their assault as the Bone Winged Beings’ retreat clogged the gates.
• The Empress hurled the bound Traveler into the Bone Winged Beings and used her flying swords and Divine Domain to destroy the creatures and seal the gates.
• The Empress’s Revival Wind restored the exhausted fighters and Osmonde, while Zhong Yuan suspected she had noticed him.

The Empress crushed the Bone Winged Beings in the Doru River Calamity Realm, while the North Continent’s forces found that the river poison had vanished. After the battle, Gu Shen realized his perception had improved and suspected Lu Zhe was a fourth-rank peak Transcendent.

• The Empress sealed the Bone Winged Beings’ escape and burned them to ashes with Godfire, ending the battle in a decisive victory.
• Cast Snow and Purple Rain arrived at the Doru River, where they learned that no rescuers had been infected by river poison or Mental Toxin.
• Lu Zhe urged Gu Shen and Mu Wanqiu to undergo examinations, but Gu Shen declined and credited the Empress for their survival.
• Mu Wanqiu openly explained that Gu Shen had saved her twice, and Lu Zhe thanked him for the favor.
• Gu Shen assessed Lu Zhe’s immense mental strength and concluded that he was likely a fourth-rank peak Transcendent.

After the Restart Mission, Gu Shen concealed Meng Xiao’s death and returned to Central City with the others. While inspecting the items he had taken from Meng Xiao in his new courtyard, he activated the Light Bracelet and unleashed its owner’s lingering will.

• Gu Shen told Zhong Yuan that Meng Xiao had vanished, and Zhong Yuan accepted that Meng Xiao had probably fled.
• Gu Shen returned to Central City and requested another audience with the Empress to ask about the stone wall and the unknown translator.
• North Continent brought the frozen Traveler and surviving Bone Winged Beings back for research, while the mission participants received honors and residences.
• Gu Shen settled into a courtyard on Suspended Mountain and sealed it against detection before examining Meng Xiao’s belongings.
• Gu Shen destroyed Meng Xiao’s lesser Sealed Items and identified the concealed Light Bracelet as a likely divination artifact.
• Gu Shen injected mental power into the Light Bracelet, which released Meng Xiao’s lingering will in the form of a face that tried to flee toward City of Light.

Gu Shen destroyed Meng Xiao’s last remnant of mental power and claimed the divination bracelet, which showed him a possible visit from the City of Light’s Judicators. He accepted the warning without fleeing and reunited with Chu Ling, who embraced him and was relieved that he had returned alive.

• Gu Shen trapped Meng Xiao’s remnant thought inside the courtyard’s mental array and fed it to the thumb ring, destroying it.
• Gu Shen put on the bracelet and infused it with netherfire, discovering that it consumed much of his Mental Sea to reveal visions of the past and a possible future.
• Gu Shen saw a vision of Judicators from the City of Light visiting his courtyard on Suspended Mountain and decided not to leave the North Continent.
• Chu Ling reminded Gu Shen that he had already dealt with the mental power in the robe, and he entered 00 Me to see her.
• Chu Ling jumped into Gu Shen’s arms and told him it was enough that he had come back alive.

Gu Shen brought Chu Ling to the thriving Pure Land and discussed how the previous King of the Underworld had planned to build it with an Undead Legion. They concluded that the devil inside the Truth Ruler had been involved, and Gu Shen resolved to imprison it with Black Silver before killing it.

• Gu Shen carried Chu Ling through the Deep Sea into the Pure Land, where Tie Wu and Hong Zhong welcomed them.
• Gu Shen and Chu Ling surveyed the flourishing wilderness and discussed how the King of the Underworld had tried to cultivate dead souls for his Pure Land.
• Gu Shen questioned how the King of the Underworld could have supplied the Source Matter needed to sustain a vast Undead Legion.
• Gu Shen and Chu Ling concluded that the devil inside the Truth Ruler had been involved in the King of the Underworld's plans.
• Gu Shen told Chu Ling that the devil had openly declared its intention to kill him and replace him as host.
• Gu Shen declared that his earlier promise not to seal the devil with Black Silver had been a deception and that he would imprison it before killing it.

Gu Shen asked Cast Snow for high-quality Mithril to counter the devil’s watchful gaze, and Lin Lin offered him a piece of Miracle Silver in exchange for a favor owed to Cast Snow. After the call, Cast Snow looked back on an old family photograph from the Empress’s Ancient Castle.

• Cast Snow argued with Lin Lin, who insisted on extending his posting at the Ancient Castle and refused to meet Meng Xizhou.
• Gu Shen called Cast Snow to ask about buying Mithril, including material better than Black Silver.
• Cast Snow said he had Black Silver but could not provide Miracle Silver, so Gu Shen prepared to seek help elsewhere.
• Lin Lin offered Gu Shen a piece of Miracle Silver on the condition that he owe Cast Snow a favor, and Gu Shen accepted.
• Lin Lin told Cast Snow that he had picked up the Miracle Silver as a child on the Pavilion Second Floor.
• Cast Snow examined an old photograph of the Empress, Lin Chou, Lin Lin, and a dog, and remembered how time had changed them.

Lin Lin gave Gu Shen Miracle Silver, and Gu Shen used it to test whether the Devil inside the Truth Ruler was truly watching him. After subjecting himself and the Devil to the Silver’s sealing force, Gu Shen recovered and became certain the Devil had been sealed.

• Lin Lin delivered Miracle Silver to Gu Shen and told him not to worry about owing his brother a favor.
• Gu Shen compared the Miracle Silver with black silver and decided to use the stronger material to seal the Truth Ruler.
• Gu Shen sent a tiny thread of consciousness into the ruler and confronted the Devil while pouring Miracle Silver into it in the real world.
• The Miracle Silver crushed the ruler’s spiritual space, and Gu Shen burned away his thread of consciousness to escape.
• Gu Shen endured a severe backlash, recovered after half an hour, and concluded that the Devil had been completely sealed.

Gu Shen sealed the Truth Ruler in Miracle Silver and resumed cultivating, unaware that three days had passed. Fisher then invited him to a banquet at the Underground Research Institute, where Gu Shen realized they would witness the Traveler being used to power Central City.

• Gu Shen sealed the Truth Ruler in Miracle Silver and hid the black box in his Pure Land Domain so the devil would enter a long period of Silent Extinction.
• Gu Shen cultivated with the Four Seasons Breathing Method and, immersed in the Spectator Mindset, lost track of three days in the Outside World.
• Fisher visited Gu Shen and invited him to a celebration banquet at the Underground Research Institute in Central City.
• Gu Shen checked his mailbox, found the Institute’s invitation, and learned that the banquet would display the Traveler, whom the Empress had embedded into the furnace to power Central City.

Gu Shen and Fisher traveled to a banquet, where Fisher warned him that Meng Xiao's death had made him a suspect in the eyes of the Western Continent Judicators. Fisher also revealed that City of Light had pursued him after he awakened the Undying One bloodline and might still be searching for others, including Song Ci.

• Gu Shen eagerly boarded Fisher's airship after learning that a visit to the Underground Research Institute was planned, and Fisher explained that a banquet and other procedures came first.
• Fisher told Gu Shen that Meng Xiao's death had spread, that the Judicators led by Jia Wei were investigating, and that influential people might avoid Gu Shen while he was suspected.
• Fisher asked Gu Shen to warn Song Ci that City of Light was interested in Undying Ones, and recounted how he had refused the Judicators' invitation and told the God of Light's Throne to get lost in a dream.
• Fisher explained that Lord Osmonde had told the Empress about the dreams, after which she bestowed a Seventh Order Source Armor on him and the dreams stopped.
• Gu Shen agreed to pass on Fisher's warning and wondered why the God of Light's Throne was searching for Undying Ones.

Gu Shen attended a dinner at the Underground Research Institute and was overwhelmed by Northern Continent dignitaries seeking ties to his influence. Grand Duke Xiang Chen personally invited him to his residence, ostensibly to discuss ancient texts, while arranging a meeting for his student Li Bing.

• Gu Shen and Fisher descended by secret ladder to the Underground Research Institute, where nobles and officials gathered for a dinner.
• Li Bing told Grand Duke Xiang Chen that Gu Shen had not answered his invitation, and Xiang Chen explained how sought-after Gu Shen had become.
• Gu Shen was surrounded by Northern Continent dignitaries hoping to benefit from his connections to Hua Banner and other influential figures.
• Zhong Yuan explained Gu Shen's political value to Fisher, while Mu Wanqiu watched the crowd with disdain.
• Grand Duke Xiang Chen arrived with Li Bing and invited Gu Shen to his residence to discuss ancient texts related to Clear Tomb Cemetery's array patterns.
• Gu Shen accepted Xiang Chen's invitation, understanding that Li Bing would join their meeting.

At a banquet in Central City, Meng Xizhou, the Goddess of Light, asked Gu Shen to help her deliver a letter after explaining why she had broken off her arranged engagement. Gu Shen realized the letter was meant for Gu Nanfeng, leaving him caught between the two.

• Gu Shen rejoined the captains at the banquet and discussed Grand Duke Xiang Chen with them.
• Meng Xizhou arrived, drew the attention of the banquet guests, and asked Gu Shen for a private conversation.
• Gu Shen went with Meng Xizhou to a Reception Hall, where she explained that she had secretly come to the Northern Continent and needed someone trustworthy to deliver a letter.
• Meng Xizhou explained that she had broken off her engagement to Lin Lin because the alliance could not solve the deeper problems between the City of Light and the Northern Continent.
• Meng Xizhou revealed that her heart belonged to someone designated CN021, and Gu Shen recognized that person as Gu Nanfeng.

Gu Shen agreed to deliver Meng Xizhou’s letter to Gu Nanfeng after learning she had obtained the Apostle of Light Token for him. Before leaving, Meng Xizhou warned Gu Shen to remain calm if the Judicators investigated Meng Xiao’s death, leaving Gu Shen wary of how far she would go to defend the Light.

• Gu Shen asked Meng Xizhou about the Apostle of Light Token, and she admitted she had obtained it for Gu Nanfeng.
• Gu Shen accepted Meng Xizhou’s gold-stamped letter addressed to Nanfeng Personally and promised to deliver it.
• Meng Xizhou told Gu Shen that her elder brother Meng Xiao had died in the Duo Lu River and warned him not to evade Jia Wei’s scrutiny.
• Gu Shen asked why Meng Xizhou seemed so unmoved by Meng Xiao’s death, and she said she regretted arriving too late to stop him.
• After Meng Xizhou left, Gu Shen reflected that she would act decisively against him if her defense of the Light required it.

At the Underground Research Institute, guests watched the furnace that used the imprisoned Traveler’s Fire Seed to power North Continent’s expansion. The Traveler suddenly rose to confront them, but the Empress’s Divine Domain dragged him back into the magma, leaving Gu Shen and the other witnesses troubled by the giant’s expression.

• The Deputy Director explained that the imprisoned Traveler’s Fire Seed fueled the furnace and could help turn thirteen nearby cities into Suspended Cities within a year.
• Gu Shen, Mu Wanqiu, Zhong Yuan, and Fisher watched the furnace while aristocrats complained that they could not see the Traveler.
• The Traveler rose from the magma and leaped toward the Steel Cliff, terrifying the aristocrats and prompting Lu Zhe, Zhong Yuan, and Fisher to protect them.
• Tens of millions of tiny swords pierced the Traveler and dragged him back into the furnace before he could reach the viewing platform.
• Gu Shen and the other captains saw sorrow in the falling Traveler’s eyes and noticed that his lips seemed to curl into a smile.

The Traveler erupted from the furnace during the Underground Research Institute’s exhibition, terrifying the guests before being forced back inside. Gu Shen suspected the Traveler was watching him because of the Black Gem and uncovered the King of the Underworld’s hidden trap; the chapter ended with the City of Light’s Judicators appearing atop the skyscraper.

• The Traveler burst from the furnace, and the Deputy Director warned the nobles that going closer would be unsafe, prompting them to leave.
• Lu Zhe warned the Deputy Director that the Traveler might be unstable after seeing it apparently smile during its leap.
• Gu Shen and Mu Wanqiu wondered whether the Traveler had targeted them, and Gu Shen connected its attention to the Black Gem held in his Pure Land Domain.
• Gu Shen realized the Black Gem likely carried the Traveler’s Divine Sense and the King of the Underworld’s Mental Toxin, making it the instrument of a deadly trap.
• As the guests prepared to leave the skyscraper, the City of Light’s Judicators arrived, led by a figure in Red Armor holding a longsword.

The Judicators arrived at a Northern Continent gathering atop a suspended skyscraper, where Jia Wei used the Bright Light Armor to withstand the gathered aristocrats’ pressure. Jia Wei revealed that he had come to bring the veiled Goddess back to the City of Light.

• Gu Shen realized the Judicators’ arrival did not match the bracelet’s vision, while Mu Wanqiu recognized their light and Lu Zhe shielded them from Jia Wei’s pressure.
• Jia Wei greeted the Northern Continent guests and claimed he had come to congratulate them on the Empress’s victory over the disaster zone and the Traveler.
• Chu Ling explained that Jia Wei wore the S-Rank Bright Light Armor, which reduced physical and mental shock by 90%.
• Jia Wei searched the crowd and identified the veiled woman at the back as the Goddess he had come to retrieve.
• Lu Zhe blocked the other Judicators with a mental barrier, while Jia Wei knelt before the Goddess and said he had come to bring her back to the City of Light.

The Judicators arrived in Central City to investigate Meng Xiao’s death and take Meng Xizhou back to the City of Light, while Jia Wei and Lu Zhe tested each other’s strength without fighting. After the Judicators left, Gu Shen decided to cultivate in seclusion and wait for their investigation, postponing his meeting with Grand Duke Xiang Chen.

• Jia Wei arrived with the Judicators, and Meng Xizhou followed him onto Cast Snow’s Source Energy Airship to return to the City of Light.
• Lu Zhe dispelled Jia Wei’s Bright Light Armor pressure, and he and Fisher discussed the danger Jia Wei posed and Central City’s ability to counter him.
• Fisher warned Gu Shen to be careful around the Judicators and offered to help if they made a move.
• Gu Shen resolved to cultivate in seclusion while waiting for the Judicators’ investigation and to avoid arousing suspicion by fleeing them.
• Gu Shen postponed his meeting with Grand Duke Xiang Chen through the Deep Water Zone, then returned to his courtyard to await the Judicators.