Chapter Summaries

Gu Shen learned that the Empress had long known his identity and explained how the Iron Law, the Gospel Box, and the Great Wall were connected. She revealed that the Great Wall had been built not only against storms but also to defend against unknown beings in the Old World who might wield lost fragments of the Gospel Box.

• Gu Shen realized the Empress had known he was the King of the Underworld since before he reached the North Continent, and she explained that the Fire Seed’s nature depended on its user.
• The Empress described the Iron Law as an admonition whose violation carried a weight that could be slight for a Throne of God, though obedience did not guarantee safety.
• The Empress confirmed that the Traveler’s Stone Slab recorded a real Great Migration but had embellished its history, including humanity’s abandonment of people who stayed behind in the Old World.
• The Empress explained that the Gospel Box divided during the migration, with one part reaching the Five Continents and eventually producing the seven gods, while another part remained in the Old World.
• The Empress revealed that the Great Wall had been built to guard against unknown beings who might wield other Gospel Box fragments, and said they could be humanity’s own kind.

The Empress explained that the Traveler’s memories contained vital knowledge and revealed her theory that the creature imprisoned in the reactor was an Apostle carrying the Traveler’s Fire Seed, not the true Traveler. After Gu Shen considered that the Traveler might have lost everything through the curse, the Empress decided to release the creature.

• The Empress showed Gu Shen twenty-three recovered memories from the Traveler, including clues about his teacher and the Fire Seed’s abnormality.
• The Empress explained that the Traveler’s powerful Fire Seed seemed inconsistent with how easily she had defeated the creature.
• The Empress theorized that the creature was an Apostle who had received the complete Fire Seed, while the true Traveler remained elsewhere.
• Gu Shen connected the Empress’s theory to the curse on Black Snow Mountain and wondered whether the Traveler had lost everything, including its Fire Seed.
• The Empress said she intended to release the Traveler.

After speaking with the Empress, Gu Shen told Zhu Xue and Purple Rain that she had ordered the Traveler released. At the Underground Research Institute, they halted the reactor and used the Empress’s power to haul the sleeping creature from the magma, leaving its destination in No Man’s Land and its next move uncertain.

• Zhu Xue gave Purple Rain a plan to promote Li Bing to deputy officer of Luo Yin City, using the post to uncover the City of Light’s hidden agents.
• Gu Shen emerged from his meeting with the Empress and told Zhu Xue and Purple Rain to accompany him to the Underground Research Institute.
• Zhu Xue and Purple Rain learned that the Empress had ordered the Traveler released and directed the institute to stop extracting its energy.
• The institute director reluctantly authorized Deep Sea to shut down the reactor, and the Traveler began to wake as the magma cooled.
• The Empress pierced the Traveler with countless ice swords and dragged it from the reactor with Silver Threads, while Gu Shen watched, knowing it was an Apostle rather than a Throne of God.

Northern Continent released the Traveler onto the frozen soil so the Empress could observe its behavior and discover its purpose. After sensing something, the Traveler sprinted toward Eastern Continent’s tundra, leaving the observers to follow its course.

• Gu Shen explained that the Empress had released the Traveler to study how far its intelligence had evolved.
• A'liuer used the Empress's token to break the Divine Power anchors, dropping the Traveler into a crater in the frozen soil.
• The Traveler remained still as it adapted to the cold, and Gu Shen noticed that its Fire-Colored Brand was sensing or searching for something.
• The Empress told A'liuer to keep watching when the Traveler suddenly sprang into motion.
• Purple Rain and Gu Shen observed the Traveler burn its fireseed as it raced in a straight line toward Eastern Continent’s tundra.

The Empress watched the freed Traveler burn its body and Fire Seed as it raced toward Eastern Continent, where its route would take it to Snow Cage. She explained her plan to Bai Zhu, who had to decide whether to accept the impending impact on the prison.

• The Traveler ignored the airships and ran across Northern Continent, burning its body as well as its Fire Seed.
• Lin Chou reported that the Traveler would reach Snow Cage, Eastern Continent’s prison for top superhuman criminals, in about an hour.
• The Empress observed the Traveler through A'liuer and declined to intervene, saying someone had already contacted her.
• Lin Lei and Bai Zhu spoke in their Divine Domains, and Lin Lei thanked him for supporting her during the Conference Room dispute.
• The Empress revealed why she had freed the Traveler and asked Bai Zhu to accept the damage to Snow Cage, offering her legion’s help with reconstruction.

Gu Nanfeng accompanied Xing Yun to the Snow Cage, where Xing Yun explained that he had agreed to decipher its Ancient Text because Gu Nanfeng had treated him like a person and respected his right to choose. The convoy reached the prison, and the chapter revealed that it was built around the Heavenly Sheath, a relic that weakens Transcendents and keeps dangerous prisoners powerless.

• Luo Yu told Xing Yun that the convoy was nearing the Snow Cage, while Gu Nanfeng explained that Xing Yun had chosen to travel alone so his misfortune would not endanger others.
• Gu Nanfeng left the helicopter and joined Xing Yun in the freezing car, using Gale Cutter to block the cold as they spoke.
• Gu Nanfeng asked why Xing Yun had refused to decipher the Snow Cage's Ancient Text before but agreed now, and Xing Yun said only Gu Nanfeng had treated him as a person with the right to refuse.
• The convoy entered the Snow Cage, a prison built around the ancient Heavenly Sheath, whose effect weakened Transcendents the longer they remained near it.
• The chapter explained that the Five Great Families used the Heavenly Sheath to suppress dangerous Transcendent prisoners until they could only provide computing power to Deep Sea.

Grave Fiend reached the Sky Sheath in the Snow Cage and began studying its ancient text, drawn there by a mysterious pull he could not explain. His reverie was shattered when a colossal, steaming giant broke through the Iron Wall and tried to wrench the Stone Sword from the Sky Sheath.

• Gu Nanfeng and Grave Fiend entered the Iron Wall and headed toward the Sky Sheath after the prisoners were transferred.
• Grave Fiend learned from Gu Nanfeng that the aura in a nearby cell belonged to the newly imprisoned titled transcendent Zhu Wang.
• Master Ghost allowed Grave Fiend to study the Sky Sheath from a distance and warned him not to touch it.
• Grave Fiend stared at the ancient text, sensing that a vague guidance and a long-buried memory had drawn him there.
• A giant radiating scorching steam smashed through the Iron Wall, charged the Sky Sheath, and tried to pull the Stone Sword free as it cried.

The Traveler reached Tundra Prison and tried to pull the Stone Sword from the Sky Sheath, calling Xing Yun its master and begging him to draw it. A'liuer finally intervened with the Empress's swords, killing the Traveler while Xing Yun's buried memories remained asleep.

• Northern Continent and Eastern Continent forces followed the Traveler to Tundra Prison under orders to watch rather than attack.
• The Traveler smashed through the prison walls, while its divine might kept the prisoners from escaping.
• The Traveler tried and failed to pull the Stone Sword from the Sky Sheath, then its roar shook the sheath loose and sent deadly fragments flying.
• The Traveler addressed Xing Yun as its master and begged him to pull out the Stone Sword, stirring sorrow and a faint, fading light in Xing Yun's Mental Sea.
• A'liuer unleashed tens of millions of Great Cold Swords, and the wounded Traveler died kneeling before the Sky Sheath without awakening Xing Yun as the true Sword Drawer.

After the Traveler died at the Heaven Sheath, Gu Shen and Gu Nanfeng examined the damaged site and discussed Gu Changzhi’s decision not to remove the Stone Sword. As the Northern and Eastern Continents arranged repairs and agreed to conceal the incident, Gu Shen investigated Grave Fiend and found no trace of a transferred fireseed or divine memories.

• The Traveler’s corpse was lifted away, and A'liuer and the Northern Continent forces helped clear debris and rebuild the Tundra Prison’s iron walls.
• Gu Nanfeng showed Gu Shen Gu Changzhi’s handprint at the base of the Heaven Sheath and argued that Gu Changzhi had chosen not to pull it out.
• Gu Nanfeng told Gu Shen that Grave Fiend had suffered only minor physical injuries and was recovering with Luo Yu.
• Purple Rain assured Gu Nanfeng that the Northern Continent would pay for repairs, and he agreed that the two continents would suppress news of the incident.
• Gu Shen visited Grave Fiend, hypnotized him, and examined his heart lake with Underworld Fire.
• Gu Shen found only negative emotions and no memories of gods or transferred fireseed, concluding that Grave Fiend was a Person Without Fire and an unlucky victim.

After the Traveler’s death, Gu Shen prepared to leave Northern Continent, learned that the Empress intended to use the Traveler Fire Seed to raise Central City, and said farewell to his comrades. Lin Lin returned to Gubao without meeting him, but sent a letter containing a coded gift for “Key,” while Chu Ling revealed that part of the Ancient Text Society’s list had been deciphered.

• Gu Nanfeng told Gu Shen that the Eastern Continent Council had preserved Mr. Shu’s position as Grand Arbiter, then accepted Meng Xizhou’s letter.
• A'liuer led the return to Central City with the Traveler’s corpse, and Gu Shen discussed the Fire Seed and his suspicions about the Traveler’s easy defeat.
• Gu Shen told the Empress about the curses between the Traveler and the King of the Underworld, and she confirmed that the Traveler’s corpse would fuel Central City’s rise.
• Gu Shen bid farewell to his Northern Continent comrades, exchanged gifts with them, and waited in vain for Lin Lin to visit.
• A'liuer delivered Lin Lin’s letter, which said he had returned to Gubao and bore the coded message “Zero Seven Three” as a gift for “Key.”
• Chu Ling told Gu Shen that part of the Ancient Text Society’s list had been deciphered.

Bai Lu waited impatiently for Gu Shen to return from Northern Continent and cornered Chen Li for news, while Gu Shen arrived back in Nagano. He discovered his friends had gathered to welcome him, with Chu standing among them, smiling.

• Bai Lu reflected on Nagano’s peaceful state and wondered when Gu Shen would return from Northern Continent.
• Bai Lu trapped Chen Li with Thorn Dream and demanded to know when Gu Shen was coming back.
• Chen Li revealed that Gu Shen would land in Nagano that day and said he was going to pick him up.
• Gu Shen returned to northern Nagano aboard A'liuer’s airship and thanked her before she departed.
• Gu Shen found Gong Zi, Mu Ya, Mu Nan, Li Qingsui, Gao Tian, Chen Li, and Bai Lu waiting at the city gate.
• Gu Shen saw Chu standing at the center of the welcoming crowd, smiling at him.

Gu Shen returned to Nagano and reunited with Chu Ling, who had descended into the real world for a limited time and feared the Divination Technique’s price would soon catch up with her. They visited Clear Tomb Cemetery, where Bai Zhu’s Fire Seed had transformed the grounds into a Divine Domain and strengthened his Reverse Flow.

• Gu Shen reunited with Chu Ling at Spring Rain Temple and learned that Shrine Mountain’s Source Matter would sustain her descent for only fifteen to twenty days.
• Chu Ling told Gu Shen that the Divination Technique’s side effects might still pursue her across rebirths, and she expected to pay a price in about fifteen days.
• Gu Shen and Chu Ling went to Clear Tomb Cemetery to visit Bai Zhu and saw how the Fighting God’s Divine Domain had transformed the cemetery.
• Transcendents greeted Gu Shen, whose growing popularity had prompted calls for him to become Grand Arbiter, though the Council kept the position vacant.
• Gu Shen and Chu Ling saw Bai Zhu meditating above the Colossus Ruins as three layers of Reverse Flow Domains spread through the cemetery.

Gu Shen reunited with Bai Zhu, who praised his breakthrough and warned him that his early bond with a Fire Seed brought extraordinary power and calamity. Bai Zhu showed Gu Shen and Chu Ling the sleeping A-009, Li Rou, whom even his mastery of Reverse Flow could not save, and began recounting how his cowardice had led to her death.

• Bai Zhu welcomed Gu Shen back and praised him for breaking the Fighting Golden Band and achieving Beyond Third Order.
• Gu Shen asked Bai Zhu to let Mu visit the mausoleum, and Bai Zhu agreed to help her attempt a third boundary break with the golden band.
• Bai Zhu warned Gu Shen that his early Fire Seed inheritance brought great calamity and that he must not become impetuous.
• Bai Zhu led Gu Shen and Chu Ling into the Inner Tomb, where he revealed A-009, Li Rou, sleeping in a coffin.
• Bai Zhu tried to reverse time for Li Rou but could not restore her shattered Mental Sea, then admitted that his cowardice had caused her death more than twenty years earlier.
• Gu Shen asked Bai Zhu what had happened more than twenty years ago.

Bai Zhu told Gu Shen how Li Rou helped Alan Turing escape and was later turned into A-009, while revealing why the Ancient Text Society was purged for allegedly causing Order Collapse. Gu Shen tried to awaken Li Rou with Blazing Fire, but the attempt failed.

• Bai Zhu explained that Li Rou, a member of the Ancient Text Society, had escorted Alan Turing through the Northern Continent's barrier before becoming an Out-of-Control One.
• Gu Shen concluded that Zhou Jiren was the young man 031 and had arranged A-009's meeting with him and the gifting of the Truth Ruler.
• Bai Zhu said the Deep Sea accused the Ancient Text Society of betraying humanity because ancient-text research caused Order Collapse, and the councils of the Five Continents ordered the Society's extermination.
• Bai Zhu explained that Gu Shen's Blazing Fire absorbed nearby Source Matter, preventing the Order Collapse linked to ancient texts.
• Gu Shen used Blazing Fire and Su Xuan Wood to try to wake Li Rou, but only ice gathered on her coffin and she remained asleep.

Gu Shen failed to revive Li Rou but learned that his reversed Four Seasons Breathing Method might help him grow stronger. After Mountain Master revealed that the King of the Underworld had designed Qingzhong, Gu Shen realized the ancient-text blueprint in the King of the Underworld's box might point to another planned Miracle Land.

• Gu Shen failed to restore Li Rou's mind, and Bai Zhu praised his reversed cultivation of the Four Seasons Breathing Method.
• Bai Zhu assured Gu Shen that Nagano was safe from the City of Light's Judicators while he remained there.
• Mountain Master asked Gu Shen about the A-rank out-of-control person brought to the cemetery, and Gu Shen said Bai Zhu and the King of the Underworld were trying to revive out-of-control people.
• Mountain Master explained that he suspected Gu Shen was close to the King of the Underworld and warned him that becoming the King's Apostle could be dangerous.
• Mountain Master revealed that the King of the Underworld had created Qingzhong's ancient-text blueprint, prompting Gu Shen to connect it to the blueprint in the King's box.

Gu Shen and Chu Ling left Nagano for Dadu to discuss reconnecting the Ancient Text Society, while Bai Xiu broke through again and rushed to meet Gu Shen before he departed. Bai Xiu congratulated Gu Shen on reaching the Transcendent Realm of Three Realms, setting up a private conversation between the two.

• Gu Shen decided to take the Ancient Text Society roster to Lu Nanzhi in Dadu and discuss a plan for finding the scattered Remnants.
• Bai Xiu emerged from meditation after another breakthrough, and Bai Xiaochi encouraged him to travel beyond Nagano.
• Bai Lu visited Bai Xiu's courtyard after sparring with Chen Li and asked whether Bai Xiu would see Gu Shen before he left.
• Gu Shen and Chu Ling left Nagano for a quiet hill where a private plane was waiting, but Bai Xiu caught up with them.
• Bai Xiu declined Chu Ling's offer to give them privacy and told Gu Shen that the Transcendent Realm of Three Realms appeared only once in a thousand years.

Gu Shen told Bai Xiu he had achieved Beyond Third Order, and Bai Xiu promised to keep the breakthrough secret while looking forward to their future rivalry. In Dadu, Lu Nan Jin persuaded Lu Nanzhi to let her join a negotiation trip to Central Continent so she could see Source Tower, while Song Ci was confronted by mysterious followers from the City of Light who called him Yingji and claimed they had come to welcome him home.

• Bai Xiu revealed that he had guessed Gu Shen would attempt the Third Transcendent Realm Breaking and congratulated him on reaching Beyond Third Order.
• Bai Xiu promised to keep Gu Shen's breakthrough secret, then parted from him, eager for their eventual duel.
• Lu Nan Jin told Lu Nanzhi she wanted to travel to Source Tower because she had been dreaming of their father falling at Lion Lane and a tower rising into the clouds.
• Lu Nanzhi added Nan Jin to the Central Continent negotiation team and planned to visit Small Barren Mountain before Gu Shen and Chu arrived.
• Song Ci confronted seven or eight robed strangers who could suppress his anger and prevent him from speaking against them.
• The strangers identified themselves as followers from the City of Light in Western Continent and said they had come to welcome Song Ci, whom they called Yingji, home.

Song Ci rejected the Judicators’ attempt to take him to the City of Light and beat them down, but their chanting trapped him in a dream. Gu Shen arrived and asked what happened to those who did not serve the Light.

• Song Ci refused the Judicators’ claim that the City of Light was his true home and said he would not go there to read forbidden texts.
• Song Ci tore off his Apostle Emblem and tossed it to the Judicators, then defeated them with a rapid series of punches.
• Song Ci offered to visit the City of Light later with gifts, but the Judicators rose and warned that serving the Light was an inescapable karma.
• The Judicators chanted together, forming a Mental Domain that left Song Ci numb and pulled him toward his dream of a mountain and a crimson lake.
• Gu Shen emerged from the night, stood between Song Ci and the Judicators, and asked what happened to those who did not serve the Light.

Gu Shen rescued Song Ci from the Judicators’ attempt to draw him into the God of Light’s dream, then explained how the Token Crest had been influencing him. Song Ci was safe for now, and Gu Shen said he would seek Bai Zhu’s help to free him from the Dream of Light.

• The Judicators attacked Gu Shen with Blazing Fire, but he absorbed their light and burned their minds until their faith collapsed.
• Song Ci recovered from the Judicators’ dream and reunited with Gu Shen, Chu Ling, Lu Nanzhi, and Lu Nan Jin.
• Song Ci recalled dreams of a mountain and red lake and admitted that the Token Crest had gradually guided him toward reading.
• Gu Shen and Chu Ling concluded that the God of Light’s Throne was guiding Song Ci toward the Forbidden Book Tower and that entering the red lake would complete the summons.
• Gu Shen explained that a Throne of God’s help was the only way to break free from the Dream of Light, and offered to ask Bai Zhu for help.

After the Judicators targeted Song Ci over his Token of Light, Bai Zhu offered to take him into his cemetery and remove its influence. Song Ci refused the chance to become Bai Zhu’s disciple so he could remain in Dadu, and Chu Ling’s divination found his future obscured by a fireseed.

• Dadu Prison Institute carried away the Judicators after Gu Shen’s Blazing Fire Burns the Body left their minds vacant.
• Gu Shen summoned Bai Zhu, who offered Song Ci a place in his cemetery and promised to remove the Crest and Dream Transmission of Light.
• Song Ci initially accepted, then asked to stay in Dadu beside Lu Nanzhi, refusing Bai Zhu’s invitation.
• Bai Zhu accepted Song Ci’s choice but said the Bai Family would still come to collect him and the Token so he could enter the cemetery and return afterward.
• Lu Nanzhi lamented Song Ci’s refusal, while Gu Shen said Bai Zhu would not offer again; Chu Ling divined that Song Ci’s fate was hidden by a fireseed.