Chapter Summaries

Su Mu found a panda-shaped carving that Nannan identified as a legendary Iron-Eating Beast, then taught her Taiyi Swordplay. After a week of practice, Nannan told him she was done, leaving Su Mu surprised by how quickly she had progressed.

• Su Mu dug up a lifeless panda-shaped stone carving after hearing snoring from beneath the riverbank and brought it home.
• Su Mu showed Nannan his treasure fish and built an automatic fishing machine so she could catch them for dinner.
• Nannan recognized the carving as an Iron-Eating Beast from an illustrated handbook, and Su Mu placed it beside his gate as a guardian statue.
• Su Mu taught Nannan Taiyi Swordplay and gave her a wooden sword to practice with.
• After a week, Nannan told Su Mu she had finished practicing, and he asked if she had completed the first level.

Nannan told Su Mu that she had mastered the Ninth Level of swordsmanship in about seven days, and he arranged for Little Owl to spar with her. As their practice began, the caged Gulan Sword God watched, unable to see through Nannan’s skill.

• Nannan demonstrated nine phantom divine swords, confirming to Su Mu that she had finished the Ninth Level after nearly seven days of practice.
• Su Mu brought Nannan to the backyard and assigned Little Owl to be her sword-practice sparring partner.
• The Five Little Ones worried that Little Owl’s advanced swordsmanship might accidentally hurt Nannan, but they followed Su Mu’s orders.
• Su Mu left to patrol, and Nannan asked Little Owl to guide her while the other little ones cleared a space for them.
• The caged Gulan Sword God told a little black mouse that even his own swordsmanship seemed childish beside the Five Little Ones’ skill, then admitted he could not judge Nannan’s attainments.
• Little Owl invited Nannan to draw her sword and attack him at full strength.

Nannan’s astonishing progress in swordsmanship left Little Owl exhausted and amazed, while Su Mu later suspected that the Iron-Eating Beast stone statue had blinked. He found no sign of life in the statue and began considering another way to investigate.

• Nannan stunned Little Owl and the onlookers with her swordsmanship, then steadily improved through daily sparring.
• Su Mu found Little Owl exhausted in the Backyard and spent Favor Points to help it recover.
• Over the next month, Nannan advanced to the seventh Sword Dao realm and forced Little Owl to use seventy percent of its strength.
• After meditating, Su Mu thought he saw the Iron-Eating Beast stone statue blink, examined it with Divine Sense, and came up with a method to investigate.

Su Mu discovered that the Iron-Eating Beast statue was alive and kept it as a gate guard after learning how tough it was. The next morning, Nannan reported that it had disappeared from the gate and was in the Backyard, leaving Su Mu worried about his Vegetable Garden.

• Su Mu burned and threatened the Iron-Eating Beast statue until it moved and surrendered.
• Su Mu found that the Iron-Eating Beast could not speak, clung to his leg, and was too tough to budge, so he agreed to keep it as a gate guard.
• The Iron-Eating Beast understood Su Mu’s instructions and stood motionless by the gate like a stone lion.
• Nannan’s swordsmanship advanced to the eighth realm, and she grew strong enough to challenge Little Owl in their sparring.
• Nannan told Su Mu that the Iron-Eating Beast had vanished from the gate and was in the Backyard, so Su Mu hurried there fearing for his Vegetable Garden.

Su Mu discovered that the Iron-Eating Beast had broken an iron cage while trying to satisfy its hunger, then fed it iron ore and made it a new guardian of the home. After introducing it as Xiao Tie, Su Mu found it hiding from the Little Fox, Xiao Bai.

• Su Mu hurried to the Backyard and found the Iron-Eating Beast chewing on bars it had torn from an iron cage while the Five Little Ones' attacks failed to hurt it.
• Su Mu realized the beast was hungry, introduced it as a new Spirit Pet, and led it to a storeroom full of iron ore and scrap iron.
• Su Mu gave the Iron-Eating Beast a large piece of iron ore, which it devoured, and instructed it to guard the house and not steal food.
• Su Mu checked the beast's mouth and discovered it had no teeth, while the Five Little Ones acknowledged they could not stop it.
• Su Mu called Xiao Bai over to meet Xiao Tie, but the Iron-Eating Beast hid behind a door until Su Mu ordered it to come out.

Su Mu took the Iron-Eating Beast on patrol and discovered that it could find buried treasure, including a rare mineral vein and high-quality mystic iron. Elsewhere, three Chaos Figures prepared a larger second probe to force Su Mu to reveal his hidden abilities.

• Su Mu let the Iron-Eating Beast eat a huge piece of mystic iron it had found in the courtyard.
• Su Mu brought the Iron-Eating Beast on patrol, where it led him to a mineral vein containing three thousand precious crystals.
• Su Mu gave the Iron-Eating Beast ten crystals, then followed it to another buried chunk of high-quality mystic iron.
• Three Chaos Figures agreed to set aside their rivalries and conduct a larger second probe against Su Mu, whom they considered the only major variable.

Three Shadows of Chaos discussed Su Mu and concluded that he was a finite living being, not an intelligence born from the River of Time, and planned to force him to reveal his abilities. Meanwhile, Su Mu reinforced his home along the Long River, and an Old Man received the Empress’s warning to leave the River of Time, fearing for the senior guarding it.

• A Shadow of Chaos revealed that Su Mu was a genuine living being whose origins could not be deduced, and the others considered his nature a possible key to breaking their deadlock.
• The Shadows of Chaos rejected the idea that Su Mu controlled the River of Time through superior Time Law and agreed to use their Chess Pieces to probe his abilities.
• Su Mu spent three nights digging a cellar, storing his rare materials inside it, and reinforcing his courtyard and surrounding structures.
• The Empress used the Three Lives Tree to warn everyone still on the River of Time to leave as quickly as possible.
• The gaunt Old Man prepared to leave and worried whether the senior guarding the Long River could withstand whatever had happened.

A dangerous flood surged toward Su Mu’s home, and he hurried to protect Nannan and the others before standing alone to face the approaching threat. He sensed a powerful hostile presence arriving with the flood.

• The gaunt Old Man fled the River of Time with Ox-Head Horse-Face, leaving the other Little Ghosts behind to escape as best they could.
• Su Mu sensed a flood rushing toward his home, waking Nannan and the animals around him.
• Su Mu put Nannan, the Little Fox, Old Green Ox, the Five Little Ones, and the imprisoned herb thieves in the cellar for safety.
• Su Mu woke the Iron-Eating Beast and ordered it to guard the cellar, then activated a formation to protect the Vegetable Garden.
• Su Mu stood alone on the river as the flood approached, sensing a powerful hostile aura with it.

Dong'er discovered that the Master's portrait had gone blank and summoned the Shepherd Heaven Alliance's leaders with nine wind chimes. Lin Xuan prepared the Great Xuan Divine Sect for his absence before setting out, while a green-robed elder arrived at Green Fragrance Courtyard.

• Dong'er saw her writing brush snap and found the Master's portrait blank, then used her Wisdom Eye but saw nothing and bled from the effort.
• Dong'er rang all nine wind chimes, summoning Oldest, Old Three, Fourth Sister, and Little Five to Green Fragrance Courtyard.
• Lin Xuan named Lin Yi successor to the Great Xuan Divine Sect and ordered Lin Dao, Lin Zhan, and Lin Kui to help him prepare to lead.
• Lin Xuan crushed a crystal and entered the void, privately thinking of himself as the others' Little Six.
• Lin Yi rebuked Lin Zhong for despairing, then entrusted the sect to his uncles and left the Ancestral Land.
• A green-robed old man rushed into Green Fragrance Courtyard.

Little Six reunited with the Shepherd Heaven Alliance as they discovered that Master had vanished from his portrait and worlds across their domain were being destroyed. After Dong'er suspected a crisis in the River of Time, the group faced the choice of whether to go aid Master, but an unexpected man arrived.

• Little Six arrived, apologized for coming too late, and asked First Brother whether something had happened to Master.
• Dong'er showed the group that Master had vanished from his portrait and revealed that someone had blocked her from seeing what happened.
• Old Three tried to rush to the River of Time, but First Brother stopped him and ordered everyone to calm down.
• An Azure Phoenix reported that five of the seven Lower Immortal Domains it patrolled had lost contact, while dozens of worlds on Old Three's compass went dark.
• Dong'er suspected that Master had encountered powerful enemies in the River of Time, leaving the group to decide whether to go to him.
• A middle-aged man entered the courtyard, and First Brother rose and walked toward him.

As worlds under the Shepherd Heaven Alliance lost contact and collapsed, Oldest and his brothers chose to rush into the River of Time to help their master. Dong'er stayed behind, using her golden blood and newly opened eyes to seek a way to preserve the remaining worlds.

• Oldest confronted Second Brother, who revealed he had been nearby, before Old Two asked Dong'er whether their master was in danger.
• Dong'er reported upheaval in the River of Time, while Fourth Sister, Little Five, and Oldest received reports that territories and worlds had gone dark.
• Oldest ordered Old Two to accompany him into the River of Time and assigned Old Three, Fourth Sister, Little Five, and Little Six to guard the Shepherd Heaven Alliance.
• Old Three, Fourth Sister, Little Five, and Little Six ignored the order and followed Oldest and Old Two, choosing to risk their lives for their master.
• Dong'er resolved to protect the surviving worlds, removed the cloth over her eyes, cut her wrist, and revealed golden blood.

Dong'er activated her hidden Space Grand Formation, sealing every world in the Shepherd Heaven Alliance and preparing to move them through the Myriad Realms to escape disaster. She urged the alliance’s leaders to wait in seclusion while Master fought, and Han Xiaopao chose to stand by him rather than flee.

• Dong'er revealed that she had secretly founded the Mending Heaven Gate and spent generations placing formation eyes throughout the Shepherd Heaven Alliance.
• Dong'er activated the Space Grand Formation, enclosing every alliance world in a transparent barrier so she could shift their spatial coordinates and evade calamity.
• Dong'er sent the World Lords and Domain Lords a message ordering them to organize their people, enter seclusion, and trust that Master was fighting for their survival.
• Xiao Huo heard Dong'er's message, accepted Yao Lao's counsel, and crushed his command token to relay the order throughout the Flame Fire Immortal Domain.
• Han Xiaopao told his subordinate to prepare the Azure Origin Immortal Domain for seclusion and resolved to face destruction alongside Master instead of running.

Su Mu faced a massive flood on the Long River and froze its crest before confronting the Brawny Man who had caused it. The Brawny Man attacked at great speed, but Su Mu seized his blade and moved to kill him, while the identity of the force behind the attack remained unknown.

• Old Man Zero arrived by boat and urged Su Mu to flee the approaching flood, but Su Mu refused and Zero chose to stay behind him.
• Su Mu solidified the enormous flood crest into ice with a single command.
• A Brawny Man carrying a black Double-Headed Blade appeared on the ice, and Zero recognized him as an existence believed to have fallen more than a hundred epochs earlier.
• The Brawny Man attacked Su Mu at high speed, but Su Mu deflected his first strike and caught the blade during his next attack.
• Su Mu drew a blade and slashed toward the Brawny Man's neck, but the man smiled without fear as the strike neared.

Su Mu was trapped in an array that cut him off from the River of Time, while Zero realized a hidden mastermind had set a killing game against him. Tian Luo entered the array to challenge Su Mu, but after losing and beginning to reveal who was behind him, he was instantly erased; Zero remembered him as a respected pawn of a powerful figure.

• Nine masked monks emerged from beneath the water and formed an array that trapped Su Mu in a small, isolated patch of the River of Time.
• Zero recognized that the array was being empowered by a hidden mastermind and feared he lacked the strength to save Su Mu.
• The Brawny Man, who named himself Tian Luo, entered the array and challenged Su Mu to a fight.
• Su Mu defeated Tian Luo with one strike, shattering his weapon and dantian, and revealed his own name.
• Tian Luo began to identify the person behind him, but an unseen force turned him to dust before he could finish.
• Zero recalled meeting Tian Luo in a glorious age and remembered a nursery rhyme about returning home to Tian Luo.

After Tian Luo died, the nine Monks continued their plan while powerful beings discussed their Chess Pieces and the danger of Su Mu reaching That Road. Su Mu searched for a way out of the formation as Zero was warned not to intervene, and six of his companions became trapped in a timeless void just as something began striking it.

• Tian Luo died after attempting to reveal the True Name of the being behind the plan, but the nine Monks continued chanting because his task was already complete.
• In chaotic spacetime, unseen beings dismissed loyalty and discussed a departed figure who had placed hope in Su Mu, whom they believed no longer posed a threat.
• Su Mu sat within the formation and searched for a way to break it while Zero considered killing the nine people and taking him onto That Road.
• A powerful pressure halted Zero and warned him to watch whether his choice was right, making clear that acting would erase his body.
• Oldest, Old Two, Old Three, Fourth Sister Jin Yao, Little Five, and Little Six found themselves trapped in a space where time, laws, and physical objects did not exist.
• Jin Yao could not lead the six out of the void, and a thunderous impact began shaking the space.

Little Seven rescued Oldest and the others from the strange space, but told them that Su Mu had been trapped and that a powerful woman was blocking the rescue. As Dong’er strained to control the formation holding Su Mu, two lords approached, confident they had cut off every escape route.

• Little Seven broke through layers of spatial barriers, carried Oldest and the others out of their prison, and told them that Master was trapped.
• Little Seven explained that a mysterious woman had killed more than a hundred of his subordinates and prevented him from reaching Master, so he had followed Master’s message to retrieve Oldest and the others.
• Oldest and the others agreed they could not help Master directly and resolved to complete the task he had assigned them.
• Dong’er continued controlling the formation from Nan Mu Island while Su Mu remained trapped and Zero watched from a distance.
• Two lords walked across the River of Time, confirmed the escape routes were cut off, and approached Su Mu, with the man claiming he could handle him alone.

Su Mu remained trapped in the array as two powerful figures arrived from the future: the Daoist Robe Man and the Green Robe Woman. After the Daoist Robe Man revealed he had come to kill Su Mu for the Chess Player, Zero warned that he would kill him if he harmed Su Mu.

• The Daoist Robe Man and the Green Robe Woman arrived, and the Daoist Robe Man ordered the nine monks to undo their array so he could test Su Mu's strength.
• After Little Seven sent him a Divine Sense, Su Mu opened his eyes and prepared to fight without restraint.
• The Daoist Robe Man recognized Zero, greeted him, and admitted he had come to slaughter Su Mu for the Chess Player.
• Zero threatened to kill the Daoist Robe Man if he touched Su Mu, and the Daoist Robe Man burst into laughter.

The Daoist Robe Man entered the formation to fight Su Mu personally, drawing them into his Yin Yang Compass’s snowfield space. Outside, the Green Robe Woman ordered the others to destroy the compass after two hours, while Zero feared Su Mu had no way out; the Daoist Robe Man said he had waited a long time for this day.

• The Daoist Robe Man stopped the Green Robe Woman’s sword attack and insisted on fighting Su Mu himself without removing the formation.
• The Daoist Robe Man used his Yin Yang Compass to draw himself and Su Mu into its snow-covered space, which remained inside the formation.
• The Green Robe Woman learned the monks could maintain the formation for at most three hours and ordered them to attack after two hours, whether the duel had ended or not.
• Old Man Zero recognized the Yin Yang Compass and realized Su Mu had to defeat the Daoist Robe Man within two hours to escape the combined traps.
• The Daoist Robe Man took out a fly-whisk and told Su Mu he had waited a long time for this day.

Su Mu fought the Daoist Robe Man across a series of fabricated worlds, breaking each of his attacks with overwhelming strength. After ninety-eight clashes, the exhausted Daoist Robe Man acknowledged Su Mu’s power and walked toward a white jade meditation cushion in the ninety-ninth world.

• The Daoist Robe Man attacked Su Mu with a Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, but Su Mu shattered it with a punch, destroying the snowy world.
• The Daoist Robe Man changed the surroundings to the Sea of Emptiness and attacked with golden hands made from Ancient Characters, but Su Mu’s Azure Dragon phantom devoured them and shattered the world.
• In a barren wasteland, the Daoist Robe Man used Law Manifestation of Heaven and Earth, but Su Mu broke it with a punch and sent him crashing to the ground.
• The Daoist Robe Man and Su Mu continued battling across successive worlds, with Su Mu effortlessly neutralizing the Daoist Robe Man’s attacks and destroying each world.
• After ninety-eight exchanges, the weakened Daoist Robe Man praised Su Mu, called himself an ant shaking a tree in Su Mu’s eyes, and walked toward a white jade meditation cushion.

The Daoist Robe Man climbed the white jade cushion’s staircase as scriptures rang out, while Zero recalled the history of the Hunyuan Realm and the Dao Ancestor who created its ninety-nine supreme Dao Arts. The chapter revealed that the climber was Dao Ancestor Zhengyi, and left Su Mu watching his ascent with an overwhelming sense of sorrow.

• The white jade cushion transformed into a staircase, and the Daoist Robe Man climbed it while reciting scripture and lighting candles in the Taoist Temple.
• The Green Robe Woman waited above the River of Time, prepared to destroy the compass if Su Mu and the Daoist Robe Man did not decide a victor before time ran out.
• Zero recalled how three successive Dao Ancestors raised humanity in the Hunyuan Realm, culminating in the third Dao Ancestor’s creation of the ninety-nine supreme Dao Arts.
• Zero remembered that the third Dao Ancestor had slaughtered humanity’s cultivators and identified the Daoist Robe Man as Dao Ancestor Zhengyi.
• Su Mu watched Dao Ancestor Zhengyi ascend the platform and felt overwhelming sorrow.