Chapter Summaries

Jia Wei led the Judicators into the Doru River Calamity Realm to investigate Meng Xiao’s death, but their seven-day search found no remains or evidence. After the Judicators returned empty-handed, the City of Light’s temple told Jia Wei that a Sealed Item bracelet inherited by Meng Xiao could lead him to the murderer.

• Jia Wei asked Lin Chou for permission to investigate Meng Xiao’s death in the Doru River, and Lin Chou agreed after consulting the Empress.
• Chu Ling told Gu Shen that Cast Snow’s airship had left Central City, and Gu Shen suspected the Empress had already anticipated the investigation’s outcome.
• Jia Wei and the Judicators searched Black Snow Mountain and the Black River for seven days, finding burned remains of their comrades but no trace of Meng Xiao.
• Lu Zhe accompanied Jia Wei through the investigation, and Jia Wei concluded that they had found no evidence and ended the search.
• The Judicators returned to Central City amid public hostility, while Jia Wei questioned whether the investigation should continue.
• The City of Light’s temple told Jia Wei to use his Bright Light Armor to sense Meng Xiao’s inherited bracelet and search the people on the temple’s list for it.

Gu Shen failed in another attempt to create the Breath of Summer and grew uneasy after learning the Judicators’ investigation of the Doru River Calamity Realm had ended. He discovered that his unease was connected to Meng Xiao’s relics just as Jia Wei arrived at Gu Shen’s courtyard with the Judicators.

• Gu Shen’s 134th attempt to create the second Breathing Method failed, and he suspected the Pure Land’s slow-growing crops were connected to his cultivation bottleneck.
• Gu Shen asked Chu Ling about the Judicators and learned that Jia Wei and his team faced public pressure after concluding their investigation.
• Gu Shen questioned Fate Goddess's Protection and received confirmation that his unease was related to Meng Xiao’s relics, possibly the Calamity Divination Bracelet.
• Jia Wei led the Judicators to Gu Shen’s courtyard on Suspended Mountain, where he knocked on the gate.

Jia Wei confronted Gu Shen in his courtyard and tried to investigate his connection to Meng Xiao. When Jia Wei invoked the temple’s method to find Meng Xiao’s relics, Gu Shen’s suppressed Calamity Bracelet began to tremble.

• Jia Wei and the Judicators arrived at Gu Shen’s courtyard, where Gu Shen welcomed them and explained that he had set up Ancient Text inscription patterns to practice.
• Jia Wei questioned Gu Shen about the last time he saw Meng Xiao, and Gu Shen said he had jumped into the Black River while fleeing him on Black Snow Mountain.
• Gu Shen challenged the City of Light to explain why Meng Xiao had hunted him, leaving Jia Wei unable to answer.
• Jia Wei ordered Gu Shen to release his mental resistance so he could inspect Meng Xiao’s relics, but Gu Shen refused and warned that Central City’s people were on their way.
• Jia Wei tapped his Bright Light Armor, sending a silver mental force toward Gu Shen that made the Calamity Bracelet tremble beneath the Su Xuan Wood.

Jia Wei twice used Bright Light Armor to search Gu Shen for the Calamity Bracelet, but the Jade Thumb Ring concealed it. Purple Rain arrived with the Investigation Corps, stopped the Judicators with Dragon Annihilation, and left Jia Wei unable to produce evidence.

• Jia Wei twice flooded Gu Shen with Bright Light Armor's holy light, but the Jade Thumb Ring devoured the probes and kept the Calamity Bracelet hidden beneath Su Xuan Wood.
• Purple Rain arrived aboard the Source Energy Airship and intervened before Jia Wei could probe Gu Shen a third time.
• Purple Rain struck Jia Wei back and unleashed Dragon Annihilation, overwhelming the Judicators and forcing them to restrain their light.
• Purple Rain withdrew her flames after Jia Wei ordered the Judicators to stand down, then rebuked him for using spiritual methods against Gu Shen.
• Jia Wei claimed he had been searching for evidence, but Purple Rain asked where the evidence was, leaving him questioning his suspicions.

Gu Shen forced Jia Wei to apologize after the Judicators’ search of Suspended Mountain found nothing, while Northern Continent moved to end their investigation. Cast Snow Grand Duke then informed Jia Wei that the Meng-Lin Marriage Alliance was over, leaving Meng Xizhou stunned.

• Gu Shen demanded an apology from Jia Wei, who apologized under pressure from the Corps Commander’s Dragon Annihilation.
• Fisher and the other captains gathered at Suspended Mountain after the Judicators had left, and Zhong Yuan said their investigation was likely finished.
• Cast Snow Grand Duke told Jia Wei that the Judicators’ investigation had to end because Meng Xiao had violated Northern Continent’s law and the City of Light had already been granted enough concessions.
• Cast Snow Grand Duke declared that the Meng-Lin Marriage Alliance was over, and Lin Chou confirmed that the Lin family agreed to end it.
• Meng Xizhou heard Lin Lin’s decision and was left dazed.

After the Judicators left North Continent, Gu Shen resumed cultivating and sparred with Mu Wanqiu, who struggled to close the gap between them. The chapter ended with Gu Shen briefly revealing his Pure Land Domain to her and asking whether she had seen it clearly.

• Jia Wei accepted the Lin family's decision to call off the engagement and left Central City with the Judicators, ending the investigation into Meng Xiao's case.
• Gu Shen returned to cultivating at Suspended Mountain, while Fisher offered him advice that could not solve his difficulty advancing beyond the Third Order.
• Mu Wanqiu sparred with Gu Shen every day for a week, improving her combat rating but realizing that she still could not match him.
• After Mu Wanqiu admitted she wanted to understand the gap between them, Gu Shen used his Pure Land Domain to overwhelm her and showed her the world within it.
• Gu Shen withdrew his finger from Mu Wanqiu's brow and asked whether she had seen it clearly.

Mu Wanqiu learned that Gu Shen’s immense domain came from external gifts rather than his Blazing Fire, helping him understand why his advancement had stalled. Gu Shen suggested a path for Mu Wanqiu to attempt breaking the boundary three times and urged her to visit the Eastern Continent to challenge Bai Xiu.

• Mu Wanqiu recovered from experiencing Gu Shen’s Pure Land and realized how far his power exceeded hers.
• Gu Shen explained that the Empress might help Mu Wanqiu attempt a third boundary break by compressing her mental power, though success depended on her own fortune and effort.
• Mu Wanqiu identified that Gu Shen’s Four Seasons Wilderness and Pure Land were not a Domain Embryo formed from Blazing Fire, revealing why his advancement had stalled.
• Gu Shen thanked Mu Wanqiu and advised her to fight young powerhouses, suggesting she visit the Eastern Continent and seek a golden band from Fighting God's Throne.
• Gu Shen told Mu Wanqiu to be sure to challenge Bai Xiu when she came to the Eastern Continent.

Mu Wanqiu thanked Gu Shen and planned to seek permission to travel to the Eastern Continent, while Chu Ling discussed her potential as a future Apostle. Chu Ling warned Gu Shen that Deep Sea was searching for her and revealed that she was compiling the Ancient Text Society members’ real-world locations, though many had died or disappeared.

• Mu Wanqiu agreed to consider traveling to the Eastern Continent after asking the Corps Commander for permission, and thanked Gu Shen before leaving.
• Chu Ling explained that Mu Wanqiu pursued victory more fiercely than Chen Li and agreed that both were promising candidates to become Gu Shen’s Apostles.
• Chu Ling told Gu Shen that Deep Sea’s upgrades were helping it search for her within the Deep Water Zone, and she could not predict what would happen if it found her.
• Chu Ling revealed that she had traced many Ancient Text Society members’ Mental Links to coordinates in the Real World and expected to finish compiling their files within a week.
• Chu Ling warned that many Ancient Text Society members who had resisted the purge had died or disappeared before the Key was found.

While waiting on Suspended Mountain, Gu Shen continued cultivating and accepted Grand Duke Xiang Chen’s invitation to discuss the North Continent’s shortage of Transcendents. He agreed to draw the Empress’s and Bai Zhu God’s Throne’s attention to the crisis, but rejected using his reputation to recruit Eastern Continent youths.

• Gu Shen told Chu Ling he wanted to see the list when it came out and believed he knew the identity of codename “031.”
• After the Corps Commander told him to wait before meeting the Empress, Gu Shen stayed on Suspended Mountain and focused on comprehending a Domain Embryo for his Blazing Fire.
• Gu Shen accepted Grand Duke Xiang Chen’s invitation and met him and his disciple Li Bing at Xiang Chen’s estate.
• Xiang Chen and Li Bing explained that the North Continent’s fortresses lacked Transcendents and proposed that Gu Shen encourage young people from the Eastern Continent to serve there.
• Gu Shen agreed to bring the manpower shortage to the Empress and Bai Zhu God’s Throne, but said he would not let the North Continent use his deeds as recruitment publicity.

Gu Shen uncovered Li Bing’s scheme to lure him into Xiang Chen’s sealed study, where the Deep Sea could not observe them. Li Bing killed Xiang Chen and turned the scene toward a confrontation, declaring that his Fanatical Light erased mistakes and darkness.

• Gu Shen entered Xiang Chen’s study, a Spotless Land that blocked the Deep Sea and spiritual detection.
• Gu Shen revealed that he suspected Xiang Chen’s public invitation had been part of Li Bing’s plan and confronted Li Bing about his unexplained rise.
• Li Bing admitted Gu Shen’s presence in the study mattered because no one outside could know what happened there.
• Li Bing used invisible threads to cut Xiang Chen’s throat, then turned two fingers toward his own neck.
• Li Bing challenged Gu Shen’s understanding of fanaticism as the lanterns shook and their light turned scarlet.

Gu Shen revealed that the confrontation with Li Bing had taken place inside a Scarlet Dream and that he had already reached the third realm. He subdued Li Bing, erased his memories, and left him alive as his eyes within the City of Light.

• Li Bing killed Grand Duke Xiang Chen and then tried to frame Gu Shen by dying at the scene.
• Gu Shen confronted the dying Li Bing and explained that he understood the framing plan and was not helpless against it.
• Gu Shen revealed that he was a third-realm transcendent and that Li Bing had been trapped in his dream.
• Gu Shen pinned Li Bing against the flames, planted a seed in his Mental Sea, and ordered him to forget what had happened and abandon the City of Light.
• Gu Shen opened the door and told Grand Duke Xiang Chen that the trouble inside had been resolved.

Gu Shen exposed Li Bing as a City of Light plant, erased his loyalty, and arranged for North Continent to take control of him. While waiting for Cast Snow, Gu Shen discussed Ancient Texts with Xiang Chen and received a set of Ancient Text Array Talismans before Cast Snow arrived with reinforcements.

• Xiang Chen entered the room and found Li Bing unconscious, while Gu Shen explained that he had turned him into a Hidden Piece by erasing his loyalty to City of Light.
• Xiang Chen reported the infiltration to the pavilion, and Gu Shen agreed to transfer control of the Spirit Seed when Empress sent someone.
• While they waited for Cast Snow, Xiang Chen and Gu Shen discussed Ancient Texts, and Xiang Chen praised Gu Shen's talent and offered to welcome him to the cemetery.
• Xiang Chen gave Gu Shen Ancient Text Array Talismans and recalled his old friend who had helped push the world into the New Era.
• Cast Snow arrived with several powerful individuals and found Gu Shen and Xiang Chen calmly talking over Ancient Texts.

Gu Shen helped Central City resolve Li Bing’s Spirit Control and was invited to meet the Empress. Before the audience, Purple Rain told him the Lin-Meng marriage alliance had ended and asked him to convey Northern Continent’s desire for a new alliance to Eastern Continent’s leaders.

• Zhu Xue arrived and heard Gu Shen and Xiang Chen explain how Gu Shen had defeated Li Bing and thwarted the temple’s plan.
• A Fourth Order Mental Affinity Transcendent failed to find Gu Shen’s Spirit Seed in Li Bing’s Mental Sea, so Gu Shen extracted it himself and the authority was transferred to Lin Chou.
• Lin Chou told Gu Shen he could go to the Pavilion Second Floor for an audience with the Empress.
• At the Ancient Castle, Purple Rain told Gu Shen the Lin-Meng marriage alliance had ended and would not be publicly announced.
• Purple Rain thanked Gu Shen for revealing the City of Light temple’s betrayal and said Northern Continent hoped to form a new alliance.
• Gu Shen agreed to relay Northern Continent’s proposal to Bai Zhu God’s Throne, the Madam of Dadu, and the heads of the Five Great Families.

Gu Shen asked the Empress about the Sky-Reaching Tree and Sky Eye, but she explained that the Old World could not be divined. She then showed him a memory taken from the Traveler’s mind, leaving him to see his teacher, Senior Brother, and Senior Sister in the ruins.

• Gu Shen visited the Empress with Purple Rain and asked where the Sky-Reaching Tree and Sky Eye were.
• The Empress told Gu Shen that the Divination Technique could not reveal events in the Old World, but said she had another way to provide answers.
• The Empress explained that the Traveler was asleep in the furnace and that she had entered its Mental Sea to search its memories.
• The Empress showed Gu Shen a preserved memory of three people walking through snow-covered ruins.
• Gu Shen recognized the three figures as his teacher, Senior Brother, and Senior Sister.

Gu Shen watched the Traveler’s memory of Mr. Shu and his two companions being swallowed by an avalanche in the Old World, though their fate remained uncertain. After the Empress promised to keep Piyue City Fortress open for their return, Gu Shen went there and opened the disaster zone’s entrance.

• The Traveler’s mental recording showed Mr. Shu and his companions disappearing beneath a massive avalanche in the Old World.
• The Empress told Gu Shen that she had sent A'liuer to Piyue City and promised the fortress would always leave a door open for the explorers.
• Gu Shen asked the Empress to let him visit the Piyue City disaster zone immediately, and she agreed.
• Purple Rain escorted Gu Shen to Piyue City Fortress, where Rust Bone and A'liuer awaited them.
• Gu Shen pressed his hand against the disaster zone’s snow-white canopy and opened a door into it.

Gu Shen searched Piyue City Fortress for the door through which Mr. Shu and Senior Apprentice Sister Luo had disappeared, then used the Black Gem to uncover a recorded scene from the Doru River Calamity Realm. The vision revealed the previous King of the Underworld confronting a winged humanoid being that demanded an unknown object.

• Gu Shen entered the Piyue City disaster zone with the Rust Bone Great General, the Corps Commander, and A'liuer, then searched the snowy mountain where Mr. Shu and Senior Apprentice Sister Luo had departed.
• Rust Bone praised Gu Shen's quiet, protective nature and worried that the loss of his teacher and senior sister would wound him.
• Gu Shen examined the Black Gem and drew together fragments of consciousness preserved within its River Poison Source.
• The fragments transported Gu Shen's awareness into a recorded scene of Black Snow Mountain in the Doru River Calamity Realm.
• Gu Shen witnessed the previous King of the Underworld waiting on the mountain as a black-winged humanoid descended and asked, "Where is the thing I want?"

Gu Shen watched the Black Gem reveal the Traveler and the King of the Underworld negotiating a transaction involving doors to the New World, a lacquer stone, and an oath bound by curses. Their mutual curses took effect, sealing the deal as the vision ended with black light shattering the heavens.

• The King of the Underworld offered the Traveler doors to the New World and warned that the Traveler's people would likely be killed if they crossed immediately.
• The Traveler agreed to provide half the endless Transcendent Source Matter needed for the King of the Underworld's plans, offering a lacquer stone that could contain endless consciousness.
• The King of the Underworld accepted the lacquer stone and left the doors with the Traveler.
• The King of the Underworld proposed using curses instead of a fate-bound oath to secure the rest of their transaction, and the Traveler agreed.
• The King of the Underworld and the Traveler cursed each other in the names of their fires, accepted the curses, and completed the contract.

After learning that his teacher and fellow disciples had been swallowed by the Snow Tide, Gu Shen sat in silent meditation and refused to let the Underworld Fire dictate his feelings. He broke through his cultivation bottleneck by discovering that the Four Seasons Breathing Method could be practiced in reverse, then chose to lead the Pure Land into winter.

• Gu Shen returned to the Piyue City disaster zone after viewing the Traveler's memory and wondered whether the Black Gem was connected to the Jade Thumb Ring in his Mental Sea.
• Gu Shen spent a day beside the vanished door, grieving over the missing Mr. Shu and his companions while holding on to his belief that they were alive.
• Gu Shen's meditation clarified the desolation he had felt, and the Pure Land's sky darkened as his state of mind changed.
• Gu Shen realized that he could reverse the Four Seasons Breathing Method, moving from spring toward winter and Silent Extinction.
• Gu Shen shifted the Pure Land into winter and discovered that he could make frozen plants grow by spending more Transcendent Source Matter.

Gu Shen reversed the Breathing Method and comprehended Great Cold, entering a state of Silent Extinction that concealed and refined his spiritual power. Rustbone and the others recognized the danger of his strength and suspected he had killed Meng Xiao, while Gu Shen left Snow Cliff with a newly lethal Pure Land Domain.

• Gu Shen reversed the seasons in the Pure Land and crossed into the Breath of Winter, comprehending Great Cold.
• Rustbone, Purple Rain, and A'liuer watched Gu Shen's spiritual aura vanish into Silent Extinction and marveled at how quickly he had advanced.
• Rustbone concluded that Gu Shen may have killed Meng Xiao and said the Judicators could not prove it.
• Rustbone suggested Gu Shen might possess a Transcendent Realm of Three Realms and recognized that he was cultivating the Breathing Method in reverse.
• Gu Shen opened his eyes after comprehending Great Cold and sensed that his spirit had become more refined and lethal, though its size and quantity had not changed.

After leaving Piyue City, Gu Shen returned to the Empress and confessed that he had killed Meng Xiao, hoping to learn how she knew about it. The Empress revealed that his Gospel Box artifacts were part of a set and that they had met countless times across shattered futures and pasts, then asked him to remember why she had torn up a letter.

• Gu Shen thanked Rust Bone, A'liuer, and Purple Rain before leaving Piyue City as the Fourth Legion prepared to enter the disaster zone.
• Gu Shen returned to the Empress’s Ancient Castle with Purple Rain and told the Empress that he had killed Meng Xiao.
• Gu Shen explained that he had beheaded Meng Xiao, burned his body and Sealed Items, and thrown them into the Duo Lu River.
• The Empress pointed out that Gu Shen had kept some of Meng Xiao’s things, and Gu Shen revealed the Netherworld aura within his Blazing Fire.
• The Empress identified Gu Shen’s pendant and bracelet as incomplete Gospel Box divine artifacts and revealed that her hand chain was the set’s main piece.
• The Empress told Gu Shen that they had met millions of times across shattered futures and pasts, then asked why she had torn up the letter at the very beginning.