Chapter Summaries

Shen Yi killed a Cangwu Hall elder and reasoned that changes within the Immortal Sacred Land had occurred while Feng Qingyao was away. After Alvin revealed a rumor accusing Feng Qingyao of triggering the Black Fog outbreak, Shen Yi learned that someone was trying to turn the wider world against her.

• Shen Yi questioned the weakened elder, who said the Cangwu Hall Master had brought something back and had since kept his followers away and refused to speak of Feng Qingyao.
• Shen Yi ordered Xilos to kill the elder, then told Xilos that they had never been likely to become friends with the Immortal Sacred Land.
• Shen Yi reasoned that Aoyue and Byron had acted differently because something had changed within the Immortal Sacred Land while Feng Qingyao was away.
• Shen Yi decided to create an opening to draw out Winnie and contacted Alvin using the Authority Crystal.
• Alvin reported that a rumor blamed Feng Qingyao for deliberately causing the Black Fog outbreak in the Dead Domain, and that the Godless Stronghold had asked how badly it had affected them.

After the battle, Shen Yi discussed Feng Qingyao’s possible conviction with Alvin and asked for his help regarding the unusual silence around the universe he had claimed. He suspected others were preparing to make a move, leaving the story on the verge of a trap.

• Shen Yi asked Alvin how the Godless Stronghold had questioned him about the Mechanical Divine Domain and Feng Qingyao, and Alvin described their attempt to draw him into the investigation.
• Alvin said he believed Feng Qingyao must have had a reason to act against the Black Fog, and argued that convicting her required either someone to speak up or substantive evidence.
• Alvin asked whether Shen Yi would stand with Feng Qingyao, but Shen Yi did not answer and instead said his trip to the Myriad Hearts Stone had yielded useful leads.
• Shen Yi told Alvin that he had offended hall masters from Cangwu Hall and Hidden Light Hall, then asked him for help.
• Shen Yi explained that the universe he had claimed had stayed suspiciously quiet despite many people once coveting it.

Shen Yi arranged with Alvin to feign weakness and send Lilith to guard people in the Broken Universe, using the region as bait for enemies in hiding. Worried by Winnie's silence, Shen Yi stayed near the Immortal Sacred Land to draw those enemies out and await news.

• Shen Yi told Alvin to pull back defenses around the Mechanical Divine Domain and spread discreet rumors that Shen Yi and Xilos had been badly hurt.
• Shen Yi asked Alvin to tell Lilith to bring trusted Authority Holders to the Broken Universe to protect people there, and revealed that he had left a trap as bait.
• Shen Yi gave Alvin a hidden Spatial Node coordinate so he and Lilith could reach the Broken Universe quickly if danger arose.
• Shen Yi admitted to Xilos that Winnie's silence made him fear she had been restrained or prevented from sending messages.
• Shen Yi decided to wait near the Immortal Sacred Land until the commotion drew the hidden enemies into revealing themselves.

Shen Yi and Xilos decided to keep Enrosis’s connection to Wen Ke’er secret until the right moment, then disguised themselves to enter the locked Immortal Sacred Land. Shen Yi planned to inflame the anger of the Authority Holders barred outside, leaving the pair flying toward the Holy Land unnoticed.

• Xilos asked Shen Yi whether they should tell Wen Ke’er about Enrosis, and he said they would wait until things settled down.
• Xilos observed that the Immortal Sacred Land had sealed its barrier and barred many Authority Holders, who were growing frustrated outside.
• Shen Yi concealed Xilos’s Flame of Continued Combustion, changed her appearance, and disguised his own aura and appearance as well.
• Shen Yi said the Holy Land had treated them unfairly and that he intended to add fuel to the anger already building among the outsiders.
• Shen Yi and Xilos flew toward the Immortal Sacred Land with their auras subdued, blending in with the other Authority Holders.

Shen Yi and Xilos reached the Immortal Sacred Land, where angry Authority Holders protested after being barred from entering despite having paid. A commander silenced them with his overwhelming presence and challenged anyone to make him move one step, while Shen Yi watched his feet.

• Authority Holders gathered outside the barrier and demanded entry, access to the Myriad Hearts Stone, or refunds for what they had paid.
• A Guide dismissed their complaints and called their admission a favor, provoking the crowd to protest more fiercely.
• A commander emerged from the Immortal Sacred Land and offered to arrange another visit for those willing to wait.
• The commander challenged the Authority Holders to make him move one step if they wanted to enter that day, and the crowd fell silent.
• A young Authority Holder tried to step forward, but the commander's aura forced him back; Shen Yi watched the commander's feet.

Shen Yi challenged the Immortal Sacred Land commander’s authority to admit visitors, then struck him and the Guides away with a single palm. The assembled Authority Holders were left stunned and unable to understand the nature of Shen Yi’s power.

• Xilos watched Shen Yi remain calm while the other Authority Holders refused to challenge the commander.
• Shen Yi asked whether the commander had authority from the Hall Master to decide who could enter the Holy Land, and the commander claimed the Cangwu Hall backed him.
• When the commander began to accept Shen Yi’s challenge, Shen Yi struck him and sent him and the Guides flying with one palm.
• Azure Scale and Old Yan discussed how Old Yan’s Trace-Shadow Eye had failed to follow Shen Yi’s movement or sense his power.
• Two women from Purple Mist Skywatch concluded that Shen Yi’s power was too concentrated and elusive to identify, and called his depths unfathomable.

Shen Yi’s effortless defeat of the Immortal Sacred Land commander and his Guides left the gathered Authority Holders stunned and worried about the consequences. The commander faced a public choice between honoring his wager and risking punishment from his superiors or denying it and destroying his own credibility.

• Lanmei and the younger Authority Holders debated Shen Yi’s strength and the danger of provoking the Immortal Sacred Land.
• A white-robed elder suspected Shen Yi had challenged Cangwu Hall’s Hall Master and anticipated a new storm Beyond the World.
• Xilos felt the gulf between her strength and Shen Yi’s but pushed aside her worry and chose to trust him.
• The wounded commander realized Shen Yi had held back, while his Guides lay scattered and frightened.
• Shen Yi reminded the commander that the palm strike had sent him flying farther than one step, and the commander struggled to decide whether to honor the wager.

Shen Yi secured entry to the Immortal Sacred Land’s outer waiting area for the Authority Holders, then waited to see how its leaders would respond to his public challenge. Three Guardians from the Hidden Light Hall arrived with the humiliated commander, leaving Xilos wary of their dangerous dark red power.

• The commander accepted his defeat and allowed every Authority Holder who passed the initial test to enter the outer waiting area and join the next selection round.
• The commander warned Shen Yi that the matter was not over, then left to report what had happened while Shen Yi and Xilos entered the Holy Land.
• At the waiting area, Shen Yi told Xilos he had not come to keep a low profile and said the Immortal Sacred Land was divided in its response.
• Several powerful auras approached, and Shen Yi told Xilos to stay calm as three Guardians from the Hidden Light Hall arrived with the commander.
• Xilos recognized the Guardians as the ones whose dark red power had threatened her Flame of Continued Combustion, while Shen Yi watched them without concern.

Shen Yi and Xilos entered the Immortal Sacred Land’s Inner Zone after the Cangwu Hall Master publicly addressed the Authority Holders and punished Zhao Wu. As they waited inside, Shen Yi sensed a force the Holy Land was struggling to contain, while Xilos noticed a deeply concealed aura nearby.

• A Guardian explained that Rule Reflux had disrupted the Holy Land and offered to escort visitors to the Inner Zone without guaranteeing their safety.
• The Cangwu Hall Master apologized to the Authority Holders, blamed Zhao Wu, and summoned him away to accept punishment.
• Shen Yi and Xilos passed through the gateway with the crowd and entered the Immortal Sacred Land’s Inner Zone.
• Shen Yi studied the Inner Zone’s layout and sensed an ongoing resistance that seemed to be seeping from deep within the Holy Land.
• Xilos detected a deeply concealed aura in the waiting area and stayed alert beside Shen Yi.

Feng Qingyao continued recovering from her wounds while Alvin sealed the Mechanical Divine Domain and prepared to lure hidden enemies into acting on Shen Yi’s plan. He gave Lilith a powerful crystal as a safeguard, leaving her to carry his thanks to Shen Yi.

• Feng Qingyao saw that Shen Yi’s power and her own Authority had nearly healed her wounds, then resumed recovering as she prepared for the limited time ahead.
• Alvin sealed every Spatial Node and outer barrier of the Mechanical Divine Domain, prompting its Authority Holders to speculate about Shen Yi’s escape from the Immortal Sacred Land.
• Alvin recalled Shen Yi’s plan to spread word of the sealed Divine Domain and draw out enemies hiding in the shadows.
• Lilith warned Alvin that the Immortal Sacred Land might retaliate against him and destroy the foundation of his people, but Alvin denied that he was involved in Shen Yi’s scheme.
• Alvin told Lilith that Shen Yi was worth the gamble and gave her a blue crystal to protect her and the people around Shen Yi.
• Lilith accepted the crystal, told Alvin to thank Shen Yi, and prepared to leave.

Alvin reflected on the Broken Universe being bait and waited for the first enemy to take it. In the Immortal Sacred Land, Byron confronted Shen Yi and Xilos, learned they intended to handle their own affairs, and explained that she had summoned them because she distrusted Shen Yi.

• Alvin recalled that Shen Yi had spread word of the Broken Universe as bait and decided to wait for someone to take it.
• Alvin paused before an Egg Follicle and softly urged its occupant, or himself, to wait a little longer.
• Two Guardians led Shen Yi and Xilos away from the other Authority Holders to meet Byron.
• Byron confronted Shen Yi about humiliating Cangwu Hall and demanded to know why he and Xilos had come.
• Shen Yi and Xilos dropped their disguises, and Shen Yi told Byron that he and Lilith would handle matters themselves.
• Byron warned Shen Yi that his Flame of Continued Combustion and Myriad Laws Affinity made him a tempting target, then admitted she had summoned him because she distrusted him.

Shen Yi investigated a disturbance in the Holy Land that seemed connected to Xilos’s bloodline and the Hidden Light Hall. After the Guides closed the deeper Inner Zone, he suspected something beneath the Holy Land was breaking free and told Xilos to follow the bloodline’s pull if it returned.

• Xilos told Shen Yi that a power in her blood was drawing her toward the depths of the Holy Land, possibly toward the Hidden Light Hall, and he had her suppress it.
• A disturbance shook the rules throughout the Inner Zone, and Shen Yi sensed that something deep within the Holy Land had been forcibly stirred.
• A Guide announced that an unstable rule node had prompted the closure of the Inner Zone’s deeper areas for the day.
• Shen Yi surveyed the Inner Zone’s hidden sentries, Restrictions, and defenses, concluding that the area seemed designed to guard against something.
• Xilos said the disturbance had made the power in her blood tremble, and Shen Yi told her to follow its pull if it reached out again.

Xilos followed the Life Force tug to a presence deep within Hidden Light Hall, while Shen Yi learned that the presence sought him for reasons tied to Beyond the World. The next day, the Hall Master summoned Xilos alone, and Shen Yi waited outside the Side Hall as she went in.

• Xilos traced the power in her bloodline to a pure light deep within Hidden Light Hall, which touched her and then gently pushed her back.
• Shen Yi told Xilos the light was waiting for her, but they agreed to wait and see how events in the Holy Land unfolded.
• Byron learned from the radiance that it sought not Xilos but Shen Yi, whom Beyond the World needed.
• An unremarkable Authority Holder left the resting area under the watch of a hidden gaze.
• On the second day of the lockdown, two Guardians summoned Xilos to the Hall Master and allowed Shen Yi to accompany her only as far as the outside of the hall.
• The Guardians led Xilos and Shen Yi deeper into Hidden Light Hall, where the Life Force tug grew stronger, then told Shen Yi to wait outside the Side Hall as Xilos entered.

Xilos followed a mysterious power within her bloodline to a gentle light deep in the Hidden Light Hall, while Shen Yi learned that the light was seeking him because the Beyond the World needed him. The next day, the Hall Master summoned Xilos, and Shen Yi waited outside as she entered a Side Hall.

• Xilos followed the pull in her bloodline and sensed a pure ball of light, which touched her and then gently pushed her back.
• Shen Yi told Xilos that the light was waiting for her, but they decided to wait and see how events unfolded.
• Byron learned that the light was not seeking Xilos but the person she intended to follow, and it said the Beyond the World needed Shen Yi.
• An unidentified Authority Holder slipped away through the night as a hidden watcher followed him with its gaze.
• On the second day of the blockade, two Guardians summoned Xilos to meet the Hall Master, and Shen Yi accompanied her to the hall before waiting outside a Side Hall.

Enrosis revealed that Xilos’s fire concealed an awakening path of vitality and invited her to consider her potential. As Xilos was told to consult Lord Shen, a Cangwu Hall envoy arrived to summon Shen Yi to the Hall Master.

• Byron brought Xilos to meet Enrosis, whose light recognized the purity of Xilos’s bloodline.
• Enrosis explained that Xilos’s years burning away the Black Fog had depleted her vitality and brought her close to a path beyond fire.
• Enrosis offered to guide Xilos toward awakening that vitality, which might one day let her restore life to beings consumed by the Black Fog.
• Xilos asked about the cost, and Enrosis said Beyond the World owed her for her sacrifice and told her to discuss the offer with Lord Shen.
• Enrosis warned that Beyond the World would soon need Shen Yi, then fell silent when a noise came from outside.
• A Cangwu Hall envoy approached Shen Yi and said the Cangwu Hall Master requested his presence.

Shen Yi weighed Enrosis’s proposed path for Xilos and accepted the Cangwu Hall Master’s invitation despite suspecting a trap. He entered the Hall Master’s strange, empty chamber, where the meeting was about to begin.

• A messenger invited Shen Yi to meet the Cangwu Hall Master, and Shen Yi waited for Xilos to leave the Side Hall.
• Xilos told Shen Yi what Enrosis had said about restoring her Life Force, and he cautioned her that he needed to consider the offer.
• Shen Yi decided to meet the Cangwu Hall Master and told Xilos to seek Hall Master Byron if he did not return soon.
• Shen Yi followed the messenger’s trail into Cangwu Hall’s heavily guarded territory and entered the great hall after the Hall Master called to him.
• Shen Yi found the gaunt, white-haired Hall Master seated on a raised platform in a dim blue-green chamber.

The Hall Master showed Shen Yi the Black Fog, or Death Matter, recovered from the Dead Domain and explained that it could not be fought or killed. He condemned Feng Qingyao for provoking it, but Shen Yi pressed him to reveal what she had done.

• Shen Yi refused to sit and noted that the Hall Master had surrounded him with thirty-seven powerful presences.
• The Hall Master revealed Death Matter in an Ancient Bronze Casket and demonstrated that Cangwu Hall's Authority passed through it without harming it.
• The Hall Master recounted how fourteen of the seventeen people he sent into the Dead Domain vanished, while his deputy returned as Black Fog and disappeared.
• The Hall Master said he had concluded that the only way to survive was to stand guard, stall for time, and endure.
• The Hall Master accused Feng Qingyao of provoking Death Matter and risking Beyond the World, and Shen Yi demanded to know what she had done.

The Cangwu Hall master told Shen Yi that Feng Qingyao had taken something from the Dead Domain three years earlier, worsening its spread, and warned that the consequences would eventually come for her. Shen Yi demonstrated that his Flame of Continued Combustion affected the Black Fog, rejected the master’s offer to let him leave safely, and walked out of the hall.

• The Cangwu Hall master said Feng Qingyao had entered the Dead Domain alone three years earlier, stayed seven days, and taken something that accelerated the spread of its darkness.
• Shen Yi suspected Feng Qingyao had taken the ancient bronze sword but kept his thoughts to himself, then challenged the master’s claim that the Black Fog was unsolvable.
• Shen Yi said he had closed a Black Mist rift in his own world and argued that the phenomenon was governed by rules and could be suppressed.
• Shen Yi manifested the Flame of Continued Combustion, causing the Black Fog in the box to writhe and recoil before the Cangwu Hall master ordered him to extinguish it.
• The Cangwu Hall master revealed he knew Shen Yi’s identity and offered him safe passage out of the Holy Land if he accepted that the Black Fog was unsolvable.
• Shen Yi rejected the offer, warned that Beyond the World would meet its end if everyone accepted their fate, and left the hall as the master sat alone.

After talks with the Hall Master failed, Shen Yi and Xilos left Cangwu Hall, where seven Authority Holders ambushed them in the corridor. Shen Yi and Xilos dismantled the attackers’ rule-powered assaults, leaving the Hall’s core Authority Holders badly beaten.

• Shen Yi left Cangwu Hall with Xilos after deciding the Hall Master’s warning that Black Fog could not be solved was not the whole story.
• Seven Authority Holders led by the commander Shen Yi had struck earlier ambushed them in the corridor.
• Shen Yi evaded their first attack and disrupted a ring of rules formed by three Authority Holders.
• Xilos stopped the commander’s beam with a flame that slowed its rule power until it froze in midair.
• Shen Yi absorbed an incoming beam, returned its force against the commander, and burned away the six attackers’ combined assault with the Flame of Continued Combustion.
• The seven core Authority Holders were left sprawled or struggling to stand in the corridor.

Shen Yi’s flame overwhelmed the Cangwu Hall’s pursuers until Byron and Aoyue intervened, revealing that the Cangwu Hall Master had used them to test his power. The Hall Master branded Shen Yi an enemy, while Byron invited him deeper into the Holy Land to learn more.

• Shen Yi’s Flame of Continued Combustion chased the Cangwu Hall’s Authority Holders across the border of the Hidden Light Hall and consumed three of them.
• Byron suppressed Shen Yi’s flame and challenged the commander for attacking a guest on the Hidden Light Hall’s grounds.
• Aoyue arrived and accused the Cangwu Hall Master of using the pursuers to test Shen Yi’s flame.
• The Cangwu Hall Master warned Shen Yi that supporting Feng Qingyao would make him an enemy of everyone Beyond the World.
• Byron invited Shen Yi to follow her, and Xilos later asked whether the Cangwu Hall Master had sent the pursuers.