Chapter Summaries

Qin Yi and An'an performed a flute duet at Qiu Niu’s music gathering, impressing the hall with a novel butterfly-and-flowers scene despite An'an’s clumsy start. The hidden High Minister recognized Qin Yi and condemned the performance, leaving him pleading with his Senior Sister as guards hesitated.

• Qiu Niu accepted Qin Yi’s refusal to kneel after sensing faint Father God's Blood and invited him to sit.
• The Conch Girls and sea demons performed, but Qiu Niu grew tired of the familiar music.
• Qin Yi played a flute duet with An'an, whose stumble at first drew laughter before she recovered and joined him in the performance.
• Qiu Niu and the audience enjoyed the novel music, and the hall applauded when the duet ended.
• The hidden High Minister berated Qin Yi, called the duet the gathering’s worst performance, and ordered him and An'an thrown out.
• Qiu Niu revealed that the gathering was held for his High Minister, and Qin Yi shouted for his Senior Sister to hear his explanation.

Qin Yi’s concert impressed Qiu Niu, but Yazi’s attempt to turn the Winged Humans against him only exposed its own misunderstanding. Behind the screen, Ju Yunxiu confronted Qin Yi over Yu Shang, leaving him facing the jealousy he had feared least of all.

• Yazi overheard the guards praising Qin Yi’s flute and rushed in, hoping to make Qiu Niu distrust the Winged Humans.
• Yazi accused the Clam Girls and Winged Humans of disrespecting Qiu Niu, but Qiu Niu defended Qin Yi’s music and asked the High Minister to judge it.
• Ju Yunxiu admitted that Qin Yi’s playing reminded her of home and named it the concert’s finest performance, confounding Yazi and Yu Shang.
• Qiu Niu let the concert continue while Qin Yi was invited behind the screen, where Yu Shang, An'an, Qing Cha, and Doggie gathered around him and Ju Yunxiu.
• Ju Yunxiu asked Qin Yi whether he had crossed mountains and oceans to court Yu Shang, and Yu Shang angrily objected to being called a bird.
• Qin Yi realized that his own Senior Sister and a jealous-lovers confrontation had become the greatest danger of the concert.

Ju Yunxiu confronted Qin Yi about neglecting his music and using what she taught him to court women, while Yu Shang struggled with jealousy because she cared for him so deeply. Ju Yunxiu considered An'an as a possible successor to her musical path, then prepared to punish Qin Yi—until his confession that he had crossed mountains and oceans to find her left everyone stunned.

• Ju Yunxiu recognized that Yu Shang’s jealousy came from caring too much about Qin Yi, and Yu Shang admitted through her silence that she feared losing him.
• Ju Yunxiu criticized Qin Yi for letting his flute skills decline, and he accepted her reprimand and promised to reflect on it.
• Qin Yi explained that Ju Yunxiu had taught him as his master, prompting Yu Shang to apologize for her earlier behavior.
• Ju Yunxiu accused Qin Yi of using her lessons to seduce young women, and Qin Yi and An'an explained that he had encouraged An'an to study under Ju Yunxiu.
• Ju Yunxiu agreed to consider testing An'an as a potential successor, then ordered Qing Cha to find ants for Qin Yi to kneel on as punishment.
• Qin Yi told Ju Yunxiu that he had crossed mountains and oceans to find her, leaving Qing Cha fallen over and the others stunned.

Qin Yi reunited with Ju Yunxiu, eased her jealousy, and learned how she had come to the Great Wilderness and helped Qing Cha. Ju Yunxiu revealed that Qiu Niu believed she alone could save the ailing World Tree.

• Qin Yi convinced Ju Yunxiu that he had missed her and had not used her teachings to court An'an, and her displeasure faded.
• Qing Cha revealed that Ju Yunxiu had changed her bloodline with World Tree leaves, while An'an learned she had drunk lemon water stirred by Qing Cha's hand.
• Ju Yunxiu explained that Qiu Niu had brought her into the forbidden ground after hearing her play the zither at sea.
• Qin Yi told Ju Yunxiu that the Winged Human Holy Wood had developed a problem, and she said she already knew the World Tree itself was in trouble.
• Ju Yunxiu revealed that Qiu Niu had gathered music from a hundred races because it believed only she could save the World Tree.

Qiu Niu stopped Yazi from pursuing the effort to subdue the featherfolk, warning that the World Tree’s condition was already extremely serious. Qin Yi and Ju Yunxiu discussed her musical research when Qiu Niu arrived behaving like a playful companion, leaving Qin Yi bewildered by the contrast with his fearsome reputation.

• Qiu Niu rebuked Yazi for provoking the featherfolk and forbade further efforts to force their submission while the World Tree faced a crisis.
• Qiu Niu told Yazi that the World Tree’s problems were already extremely serious and proposed that the nine brothers discuss them together.
• Qiu Niu assured Yu Feiling that he had defended the featherfolk because their loyalty mattered, and remarked that they had found themselves a fine Husband.
• Ju Yunxiu told Qin Yi that music might help revive the World Tree and that she wanted to continue studying the sea and sky’s music.
• Qiu Niu arrived at Ju Yunxiu’s zither acting cute, praised her and Qin Yi’s musical connection, and said Taotie could return if Ju Yunxiu approved.
• Qin Yi wondered whether Qiu Niu’s intimidating behavior outside had been an act after seeing how readily he deferred to Ju Yunxiu.

Ju Yunxiu finished playing for Qiu Niu, who then discussed the Clam Clan’s Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearl and Doggie’s possible return to the sea. Qiu Niu revealed that reviving Jian Mu required the Door of Myriad Mysteries, which he said was in Kunlun Void.

• Qiu Niu listened intently to Ju Yunxiu’s zither, then ended the musical gathering and turned to proper matters.
• An'an asked Qiu Niu to intervene over the Ninth King’s failure to return the Clam Clan’s Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearl, but Qiu Niu urged her clan to defend its own property.
• Qin Yi said he would help An'an reclaim the pearl, and Qiu Niu agreed not to play favorites.
• Qiu Niu told Doggie that returning to the sea would require winning over the other eight kings, and Doggie said he would not compete for the Jian Mu Fruits.
• Qiu Niu said the Door of Myriad Mysteries could help revive Jian Mu, and revealed that it was in Kunlun Void.

Qiu Niu explained that Kunlun Void was a hidden ruin that opened when the Jianmu Tree neared fruiting, but Qin Yi and Doggie judged its Formless guardians too dangerous to face. After their companions left, Qin Yi suspected Qiu Niu had withheld something about the gate fragment needed to revive Jianmu, but hesitated to discuss it where Qiu Niu might hear.

• Doggie asked Qiu Niu about Kunlun Void, and Qiu Niu described its hidden ruins, the remaining gate fragment, and the previous contest with He Dao of the Celestial Pivot Divine Palace.
• Qiu Niu explained that prior entrants could not return and that monks and featherfolk guarded the entrance, while Yu Shang connected the information to Heartless God’s attempt to gain access.
• Qin Yi and Doggie decided they would not enter Kunlun Void because Formless cultivators could easily kill them, though Qiu Niu noted that four months remained before it opened.
• An'an and Yu Shang left, and Ju Yunxiu clarified that Qiu Niu was a sexless Spirit of Music before Qing Cha carried Doggie away to play.
• Ju Yunxiu teased Qin Yi about his other relationships, then asked what he wanted to tell her; Qin Yi wondered whether Qiu Niu could overhear and kept his suspicion to himself.

Qin Yi and Ju Yunxiu discussed Qiu Niu’s intentions and their shared goal of helping Jian Mu, then talked about Ju Yunxiu’s musical cultivation and its limits. Qin Yi produced a saxophone to play for her, but Qiu Niu appeared and asked to hear it.

• Qin Yi told Ju Yunxiu he remained cautious of Qiu Niu, and she said she trusted Qin Yi most.
• Ju Yunxiu explained that Qin Yi and Qiu Niu both wanted a Jian Mu Fruit, so Qin Yi could discuss an exchange with Qiu Niu.
• Qin Yi and Ju Yunxiu found Qing Cha and Doggo playing in the garden, then sat together for tea while the two went off to catch insects.
• Ju Yunxiu said she had reached the Qian Yuan Third Layer, but doubted she could improve enough to influence Jian Mu before it bore fruit.
• Ju Yunxiu explained that Qiu Niu could not advance further in the Way of Music because he lacked human emotional experience.
• Qin Yi brought out a saxophone to play for Ju Yunxiu, and Qiu Niu circled over and asked to hear it.

Qin Yi played a saxophone piece that moved Ju Yunxiu and helped her connect with the Way of Music, then gave her and Qiu Niu more instruments. As Qin Yi and Taotie discussed their suspicions about Qiu Niu, the other Dragon Sons arrived to confront them, while Ju Yunxiu realized Qiu Niu had likely mistaken Qin Yi’s intentions and urged him to save them.

• Qin Yi played “Going Home” on a newly made saxophone, moving Ju Yunxiu, Qiu Niu, and the others gathered near the World Tree.
• Ju Yunxiu played the same piece with the power of heaven and earth resonating, and Qin Yi gave her a guitar and a harp before handing Qiu Niu a harmonica.
• Qin Yi withdrew with Taotie and discussed whether Qiu Niu’s trust and his plan to send Taotie to Kunlun Void concealed a trap.
• Three Great Kings Chao Feng arrived with the other Dragon Sons and demanded to know who had sent Taotie.
• Qiu Niu told Ju Yunxiu that Taotie’s lack of greed for the gate proved it was plotting, and Ju Yunxiu realized he had misunderstood Qin Yi and ordered him to save them.

Qiu Niu revealed that he had tested Ju Yunxiu and Qin Yi because he sensed the Gate on them, then proposed cooperating to save Jian Mu. After Qin Yi fought off the Dragon Sons and Taotie escaped, Qiu Niu explained Jian Mu’s deeper problem and questioned Qin Yi about his ties to powerful beings.

• Qiu Niu admitted that he had sensed the Gate on Ju Yunxiu and Qin Yi, and said he wanted to cooperate because Jian Mu could be saved through it.
• Qin Yi used Law, Heaven, Image, Earth to shield Taotie from the Dragon Sons, and Taotie escaped while Qin Yi fought Yazi until Qiu Niu stopped the battle.
• Qin Yi accepted Qiu Niu’s Jian Mu Leaf, which could conceal the Gate’s aura, and thanked him for explaining how Formless beings might detect it.
• Qiu Niu explained that Jian Mu’s decline had another cause beyond diminished Spiritual Energy: someone had opened another realm and severed heaven from earth.
• Qiu Niu recognized that Qin Yi knew of those responsible and inferred from the Father God's Blood and Ten Thousand Demons Garment that Qin Yi had ties to them and to Demon City.

Qiu Niu revealed that Jian Mu was declining because its spirit had slept for nearly a thousand years, and that Baxia was bearing the tree while Qiu Niu and Jiao Tu protected it. He asked Qin Yi to use the Door of Myriad Mysteries to help awaken Jian Mu’s spirit and asked Ju Yunxiu to play music that could activate it.

• Qiu Niu explained that someone had distorted Jian Mu’s rules, causing its decline while its spirit remained asleep.
• Qiu Niu led Qin Yi, Ju Yunxiu, and Taotie through a barrier beneath Jian Mu and revealed its roots wrapped around the sleeping Baxia.
• Qiu Niu said Baxia’s body nourished the sea and his soul helped suppress Jian Mu, while Jiao Tu’s spirit sealed the hidden place.
• Qiu Niu explained that he needed Qin Yi to place the Door of Myriad Mysteries inside Jian Mu and help restore its spirit.
• Qiu Niu asked Ju Yunxiu to play music that could proactively awaken Jian Mu.

Qin Yi, Ju Yunxiu, and Qiu Niu prepared to awaken Jian Mu’s spirit so they could oppose the Heavenly Being, while Ju Yunxiu’s musical breakthrough made the plan possible sooner than expected. As they prepared to enter Jian Mu, they recognized that whoever had harmed its spirit might attack them both inside and outside.

• Qiu Niu offered Qin Yi his Jian Mu Fruit in exchange for cooperation, and Qin Yi agreed to help awaken Jian Mu’s spirit.
• Qin Yi worked with Qiu Niu and Ju Yunxiu to create a piano, whose music gave Ju Yunxiu new insights into her Dao.
• Ju Yunxiu and Qin Yi shared an intimate moment while Qiu Niu hugged the piano.
• The next day, Ju Yunxiu broke through to the middle Qianyuan stage, advancing both her Way of Music and Painting Dao.
• Qiu Niu warned that Jian Mu’s spirit might be troubled or reject Ju Yunxiu, and Qin Yi insisted the Feathered People protect her outside.
• The group prepared to enter Jian Mu, knowing that whoever had harmed its spirit might discover the awakening and threaten them from outside.

Qin Yi entered Jian Mu’s inner realm as Ju Yunxiu’s music began reviving the ancient tree, and Liusu awoke from the life energy. They reached the slumbering Spirit of Jian Mu and found it distorted and sick, where Baxia recognized Liusu.

• Ju Yunxiu played a spring melody that spread across the Sea Forbidden Ground and began awakening Jian Mu’s life force.
• Qin Yi entered Jian Mu and felt its primordial Breath, which could greatly aid his cultivation.
• Liusu awoke, discussed Qiu Niu’s connection to the gate with Qin Yi, and led him toward the center of Jian Mu’s realm.
• Qin Yi and Liusu found Baxia sustaining the slumbering Spirit of Jian Mu, whose form was twisted and darkened by a corrupted rule.
• Baxia addressed Qin Yi and offered him fruit, then recognized Liusu as she patted his head.

Qin Yi and Liusu joined Baxia to awaken the Spirit of Jian Mu and remove the twisted rules afflicting it. The spirit awoke violently, and Liusu struck it with the Wolf Tooth Club as Baxia watched in shock.

• Liusu recognized Baxia and reassured him of Qin Yi’s trustworthiness, so Baxia agreed to cooperate with them.
• Baxia explained that the Door of Myriad Mysteries could restore the twisted rules, while he would restrain Jian Mu and Liusu would use music to soothe it.
• Qin Yi placed the stone pedestal beside Jian Mu, and the tree’s Spirit Body began to recover and awaken.
• Baxia realized Jian Mu’s will was clashing with the twisted rules, and its awakening released a devastating, chaotic aftershock.
• Qin Yi used the Bark Shield to protect himself, while Liusu summoned the Wolf Tooth Club and struck Jian Mu’s face.

Liusu discovered that a hidden Chaos Fire-like treasure inside Jian Mu had warped its rules and struck it with the Wolf Tooth Club. Since the damage had lasted a thousand years, Baxi chose to split Jian Mu’s life and death wills, and Qin Yi began channeling the Two Elements through the Door of Myriad Mysteries.

• Liusu reasoned that a nearby rule-based treasure inside Jian Mu, rather than a distant Taiqing cultivator, had caused its spirit to fall dormant.
• Liusu used the Wolf Tooth Club to strike the hidden culprit within the jade tree, releasing Chaos Power and revealing a force like Chaos Fire.
• Baxi shielded Liusu from the eruption, while Liusu realized that expelling the chaos could split Jian Mu’s spirit into separate life and death wills.
• Baxi agreed to divide Jian Mu’s spirit despite the long recovery the surviving will would need.
• Liusu directed Qin Yi to use the Immortal Martial United Core and the Door of Myriad Mysteries to divide the Two Elements, and Qin Yi began channeling the power.

Jian Mu’s awakening threw the Ten Thousand Li Sea Region into chaos, forcing the Clam Clan and Chi Wen to protect those caught in the disaster. As Qiu Niu and Ju Yunxiu guarded Jian Mu, Chaofeng revealed that the enemy’s mysterious helper might be connected to the white mass in Qin Yi’s Black and White Vortex.

• Jian Mu’s berserk awakening unleashed destructive tsunamis that wrecked underwater settlements and threatened the islands across the Ten Thousand Li Sea Region.
• The Clam Clan’s Nether Soil seagrass formation protected its territory, and An'an sent the Sea Demon King to seek the Nine Great Kings and the Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearl.
• Chi Wen surfaced with Whale Clan and Shark Clan experts and used his strength to calm the seas, then demanded that Pixiu reveal the Divine Pearl’s location.
• Qiu Niu explained to Ju Yunxiu that Chaofeng was likely using the Heavenly Beings to eliminate his rivals while intending to keep Jian Mu for himself.
• Chaofeng appeared and said the enemy’s helper was not Taotie, pointing instead to the mysterious white mass that had appeared in Qin Yi’s Black and White Vortex.

As the Heavenly Beings attacked the Jianmu’s defenders, Ju Yunxiu protected the tree while Qiu Niu faced Tian Panzi and the Ancient Silent Sound Bell. Yazi revealed its true allegiance by sacrificing its body to strike the bell, allowing Qiu Niu to wound Tian Panzi.

• Qiu Niu met Tian Panzi’s attack while Ju Yunxiu continued playing to hasten the Jianmu’s revival.
• Chaofeng and its allies attacked the Winged Humans, while Yazi confronted Taotie and the other battles spread across the treetops.
• Ju Yunxiu trapped a Qianyuan Daoist in her painting scroll when he tried to attack her.
• Yazi suddenly hurled its body into the Ancient Silent Sound Bell, disrupting its suppression of Qiu Niu.
• Qiu Niu seized the opening to strike Tian Panzi, who spat blood and retreated.
• Yazi’s body disintegrated, and it revealed that it had feigned loyalty to avenge its slain father god.

Tian Panzi’s plans collapsed after Yazi wounded him, Ju Yunxiu disrupted the battle, and Taotie swallowed Jian Mu’s withering spirit. With the Heavenly Beings retreating, Chaofeng revealed that Jian Mu’s spirit no longer felt close to Qiu Niu, leaving the brothers alarmed about what had happened inside.

• Yazi betrayed Tian Panzi with a blow from Qiu Niu’s power, then returned to Jian Mu as Tian Panzi warned him that the Dragon Sons could perish.
• Tian Panzi and Chaofeng faced a stalemate as Tian Panzi considered withdrawing, while Ju Yunxiu’s painting scroll proved too powerful to disrupt.
• Jian Mu expelled a withered, deathly spirit as its vitality recovered, and Tian Panzi tried to capture the spirit with his Heaven Swallowing Bottle.
• Taotie swallowed Jian Mu’s withering spirit, and Qiu Niu blocked Tian Panzi’s attack before Tian Panzi fled with his Qianyuan cultivators.
• Ju Yunxiu stopped playing, and Chaofeng told the gathered Dragon Sons that Jian Mu’s spirit was no longer close to Qiu Niu.

Qin Yi and Liusu separated Jian Mu’s two wills, but Pixiu exploited their exhaustion to trap them and begin merging Liusu with Jian Mu. The chapter ended with Liusu urging Qin Yi to attack Pixiu before the fusion was complete.

• Liusu forced the Chaos Fire out of Jian Mu, splitting its normal spirit from its Nirvana Spirit, and was injured while shielding Qin Yi from the blast.
• Ju Yunxiu’s music helped the normal Spirit of Jian Mu gain control, while Baxia and Liusu recovered from the battle.
• Pixiu appeared and used the Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearl, empowered by the Chaos Fire, to suppress Baxia and Liusu’s souls while Qin Yi remained able to move.
• Pixiu revealed that he had removed the Nirvana Spirit and used Jian Mu’s rules to start merging Liusu with its remaining spirit, intending to make Jian Mu his own.
• Liusu realized Pixiu had been stalling to complete the technique and told Qin Yi to smash him.

Qin Yi fought Pixiu to keep it from merging Liusu with the Spirit of Jian Mu, while Liusu endured the pull and looked for a chance to escape. Qin Yi invoked the Heaven and Earth Contract through a forced wager, cutting off Pixiu’s communication with Jian Mu’s laws.

• Qin Yi attacked Pixiu with the Wolf Tooth Club and kept it occupied while Liusu was drawn toward the Spirit of Jian Mu.
• Qin Yi used the Qianyuan sword, Phoenix Fire, and Heaven Collapse to force Pixiu back despite Pixiu’s higher cultivation.
• Pixiu tried to persuade Qin Yi that merging Liusu with Jian Mu would bring him power and a path to Taichu.
• Qin Yi challenged Pixiu to a wager witnessed by the Heaven and Earth Contract, staking whether he valued Liusu more than himself.
• Qin Yi summoned a die from the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace’s Gambling Sect, forcing a wager that cut off Pixiu’s communication with Jian Mu’s laws.