Chapter Summaries

The five little ones tried several ways to wake the sleeping Iron-Eating Beast, but their efforts only led to broken weapons and growing frustration. After even treasures failed to rouse it, Oldest pulled the others back and decided to handle the matter himself.

• Little Five struck the Iron-Eating Beast with its wooden sword, breaking its bonded Treasure Sword without waking the sleeper.
• The other four restrained Little Five, and Little Brown Bear knocked it unconscious before it could attack again.
• Oldest sent Little Monkey to wake the Iron-Eating Beast, but Little Squirrel took over and failed to rouse it with a long, polite speech.
• Little Brown Bear offered Saint Crystals and a pile of treasures, but the Iron-Eating Beast remained asleep because it was already full.
• Oldest pulled the others away, scolded them for losing their composure, and said he would handle the Iron-Eating Beast himself.

Nannan helped the Five Little Ones wake the Iron-Eating Beast and asked it to assist with expanding the medicinal garden in the Backyard. The Iron-Eating Beast initially refused, but agreed as soon as Nannan asked, leaving the little ones amazed by her influence.

• Little Marmot and the other little ones tried to wake the petrified Iron-Eating Beast, but Nannan woke it with a gentle call.
• Nannan heard the Five Little Ones’ complaints and asked them not to fight before returning to the house.
• The Iron-Eating Beast refused to help expand the Backyard medicinal garden, arguing that it had to guard the Front Yard.
• The Five Little Ones failed to persuade the Iron-Eating Beast, which prepared to send them back to work.
• Nannan asked the Iron-Eating Beast to help its little brothers, and it immediately agreed.

The Iron-Eating Beast agreed to help the Five Little Ones find spiritual herbs one day a month and took Oldest the Groundhog on his first mission. After uncovering thirty-four rare medicines on a Floating Island, he carried the astonished Groundhog onward to another destination.

• The Iron-Eating Beast limited his help to one day a month, and Oldest the Groundhog agreed to accompany him on his first mission.
• The Iron-Eating Beast carried Oldest at tremendous speed to a barren Floating Island and punched through a rock slab, revealing a hidden pit.
• Oldest discovered thirty-four spiritual herbs and great medicines growing in the pit and dug them up without damaging their roots.
• After Oldest stored all thirty-four plants in its Magic Bottle, the Iron-Eating Beast said he would take it somewhere good and carried it away.

Groundhog followed the Iron-Eating Beast to a tributary, where they uncovered a vast layer of Primordial Mysterious Stone. The Iron-Eating Beast revealed that the stone shielded a treasure beneath it and prepared to break through the barrier.

• The Iron-Eating Beast carried Groundhog to a tributary and dug through the silt, revealing a huge layer of Primordial Mysterious Stone.
• Groundhog recognized the legendary stone and asked why it had appeared there; the Iron-Eating Beast said the Primordial God Mine had not vanished, but someone was keeping it hidden from the world.
• The Iron-Eating Beast explained that the Primordial Mysterious Stone was only a barrier shielding the treasure it sought beneath it.
• Groundhog tried to collect the stone with its Purple-Gold Gourd, but the barrier remained unmoved.
• The Iron-Eating Beast told Groundhog to retreat, then faced the barrier and prepared to handle it.

The Iron-Eating Beast ate through the Mysterious Stone Barrier and revealed a deep pit beneath it. He and the Groundhog descended into the hidden tomb and found a concealed passage that led toward a white light.

• The Iron-Eating Beast punched the Mysterious Stone Barrier without damaging it, then bit through and ate the barrier while the Groundhog watched.
• After finishing the barrier and a discarded fragment, the Iron-Eating Beast told the Groundhog not to waste food and said he would take it into the tomb below.
• The Iron-Eating Beast and the Groundhog jumped into the pit, where the Groundhog lit a White Jade Lantern and found three apparent mine tunnels.
• The Iron-Eating Beast declared the three tunnels dead ends, punched through a stone wall, and led the Groundhog into a hidden passage.
• The Iron-Eating Beast and the Groundhog ran toward a white light several hundred meters down the passage.

The Groundhog and Iron-Eating Beast discovered a cavern packed with vast quantities of top-grade treasures, which the Groundhog collected while the Iron-Eating Beast searched for something amiss. After the Iron-Eating Beast gave the Groundhog materials to replace Little Five’s broken sword, it found a hidden stash of even better treasures.

• The Groundhog was stunned by the many hills of rare spirit stones and materials piled across the cavern.
• The Groundhog stored the treasures by type while the Iron-Eating Beast searched the area and warned it to count carefully.
• The Iron-Eating Beast explained how it found its own food and praised the Groundhog’s work tending the medicinal garden.
• The Iron-Eating Beast gave the Groundhog materials to forge a replacement Treasure Sword for Little Five, apologizing for the sword’s breakage.
• The Groundhog finished storing the treasures, then hurried to the Iron-Eating Beast after it discovered an additional hidden stash.

The Iron-Eating Beast and Little Marmot discovered a hidden chamber beyond a thick stone wall, where two small guardians stood before an enormous stone door. After Little Marmot traded insults with the awakened guardians, the Iron-Eating Beast tentatively identified them as Barrier Beasts.

• The Iron-Eating Beast smashed through a ten-meter-thick stone wall and entered a dark passage, with Little Marmot following him.
• The pair traveled through a passage lined with Thousand Nether Dark Iron and reached a vast iron chamber surrounding a giant stone door.
• Two small stone statues awakened and argued over which of them had been supposed to stand guard.
• Little Marmot insulted the two guardians, who angrily turned on him and prepared to respond.
• The Iron-Eating Beast asked whether the two small creatures were Barrier Beasts.

The Iron-Eating Beast reunited with the two Barrier Beasts, who refused to let him pass through the stone door despite their old acquaintance. He sent the Little Marmot to bring their master, while the Barrier Beasts remained confident no one could overcome their trial.

• The Iron-Eating Beast told the Barrier Beasts that he had changed his name to Stone Overlord and was alive and well.
• The Little Marmot realized the Barrier Beasts might be enemies and worried they knew it carried a priceless treasure.
• The Barrier Beasts blocked the stone door and warned the Iron-Eating Beast that he could not pass their trial.
• The Iron-Eating Beast told the Little Marmot to call their master, and the Little Marmot left while the Barrier Beasts mocked the plan.

The Iron-Eating Beast tried to persuade the Barrier Beasts to abandon their guarded path, but they refused and blocked its attack with their defense. Little Marmot escaped the swamp and hurried along the River of Time to search for its master.

• The Barrier Beasts told the Iron-Eating Beast they would not reveal whose grave they guarded and insisted they had no choice in their path.
• The Iron-Eating Beast said it believed the path it had chosen was right, while the Big-Eared Barrier Beast argued that neither side could know the other was wrong.
• The Iron-Eating Beast attacked the Barrier Beasts, but their combined Barrier Shield repelled its powerful punch.
• Little Marmot left the swamp, launched its Small Boat onto the Main River Channel, and searched for its master as it traveled.

Little Marmot found Su Mu and led him to the Deep Pit, where a new Killing Game trapped them with Thirty-Six Humanoid Avatars. The Iron-Eating Beast and the two Barrier Beasts were sealed off elsewhere, leaving the beast convinced that Su Mu had been caught in its trap.

• Little Marmot searched the River of Time for Su Mu and told him that Little Stone was in danger.
• Su Mu took Little Marmot to the Deep Pit, where he sensed the Iron-Eating Beast's aura and followed it inside.
• Little Marmot led Su Mu into a square chamber ringed by rune-covered iron walls, where Thirty-Six Humanoid Avatars appeared.
• Su Mu protected Little Marmot with a Barrier Shield and faced the avatars.
• Black runes sealed the Iron-Eating Beast and the two Barrier Beasts away from the path, and the Iron-Eating Beast accused them of plotting against Su Mu.

The Iron-Eating Beast and the two Barrier Beasts realized they had been trapped together and likely abandoned by the power behind the Barrier Beasts. Unable to escape or stop the Barrier Beasts from guarding the stone gate, the Iron-Eating Beast insisted its master would prevail, leaving the Barrier Beasts eager to learn who that master was.

• The Iron-Eating Beast failed to break through the rune-repairing iron wall and accused the Barrier Beasts of luring it into a trap.
• The Barrier Beasts searched the wall for an exit and concluded they might have been abandoned too, while the Big-Eared Barrier Beast warned that revealing their backer's identity would bring dangerous karma.
• The Iron-Eating Beast ordered the Barrier Beasts to open the stone gate, but their restriction forced them to repel it whenever it approached.
• The Iron-Eating Beast said its master would win, then regretted summoning its master into the trap.
• The Barrier Beasts asked about the Iron-Eating Beast's master, and it teased that they might not be able to bear learning its identity.

The thirty-six Human Figure Dharma Idols formed a powerful Hundred Spirits Diagram over Su Mu while the Little Marmot struggled under its pressure. Elsewhere along the River of Time, two figures discussed how a spacetime gap could conceal their plot from the River Warden, and the Short Figure realized what the plan meant.

• The Barrier Beast asked the Iron-Eating Beast to let the Barrier Beasts join them, but the Iron-Eating Beast said the master's opinion mattered and urged them to resolve the immediate crisis.
• The thirty-six Human Figure Dharma Idols created a golden Hundred Spirits Diagram above Su Mu, and the Little Marmot bled under the growing pressure despite its master's protective barrier.
• The Short Figure asked whether the plan could kill its target, and the Tall Figure explained that merely injuring him would be a major success.
• The Tall Figure explained that the plot required creating a spacetime gap aimed at the River Warden so they could make arrangements without being detected.
• The Short Figure understood the Tall Figure's explanation.

The Tall Figure and Short Figure watched as the thirty-six Human Figure Dharma Idols tried to delay Su Mu, while Su Mu shielded the Little Marmot and destroyed their Hundred Spirits Diagram with the Black Axe. The thirty-six figures began turning into golden Sharira to flee, leaving Su Mu to stop them.

• The Tall Figure explained that the ambush was meant to draw the River Warden away and buy time for his lord, then ordered the Short Figure to report when the thirty-six were defeated.
• The thirty-six Human Figure Dharma Idols summoned the Hundred Spirits Diagram, whose pressure weakened the barrier and caused the Little Marmot to collapse.
• Su Mu covered the Little Marmot with a bronze bell Dharma Idol and brought out the Black Axe.
• Su Mu struck the Hundred Spirits Diagram with the Black Axe, shattering it and the compasses held by the thirty-six figures.
• The thirty-six figures realized they had been abandoned Chess Pieces and began transforming into golden Sharira to flee.

Su Mu effortlessly defeated and captured the thirty-six attackers, then reunited with Little Marmot and Iron-Eating Beast in the deepest part of Iron Wall Space. He noticed something troubling about the stone door, while the figures monitoring the battle learned that their plan had failed almost instantly.

• Su Mu shattered the attackers' formation, captured all thirty-six, and comforted Little Marmot, who blamed itself for becoming a burden.
• Little Marmot found a passage to Iron-Eating Beast, and Su Mu followed its aura through the cleared restrictions.
• Su Mu reunited with Iron-Eating Beast and the Barrier Beasts, while Little Marmot and Iron-Eating Beast tearfully apologized for involving him.
• Su Mu examined the distant stone door and furrowed his brows after his Divine Sense reached it.
• Tall Figure and Short Figure discussed how long the thirty-six could delay Su Mu, but Tall Figure's White Compass suddenly crumbled to powder.

The Tall Figure and Short Figure learned that the River Warden had instantly killed the thirty-six people sent to stop him and hurried to warn the Great Personage. At the tomb, Su Mu faced the Barrier Beasts guarding the stone door and prepared to test their defenses.

• The Tall Figure discovered that the White Compass had shattered and concluded that the River Warden had instantly killed all thirty-six people.
• The Short Figure and Tall Figure feared the treasure in the tomb would be lost, then took comfort in the Barrier Beasts guarding it.
• The Tall Figure and Short Figure left the River of Time to notify the Great Personage.
• The Iron-Eating Beast explained the Barrier Beasts' origins to Su Mu as he approached the stone door.
• The Big-Eared Barrier Beast warned Su Mu to leave, while Su Mu noticed the restriction binding the Barrier Beasts and chose to challenge their defense.

Su Mu tested his strength against the Barrier Beasts, whose defenses withstood several increasingly powerful attacks until their iron-chain restrictions forced them to keep fighting. When Su Mu summoned a phantom Black and White Divine Tree, the Barrier Beasts recognized its familiar aura but could not recall its origin.

• Su Mu struck the Barrier Beasts with a palm and Azure Dragon phantoms, testing their defenses as they endured both attacks.
• Su Mu summoned a phantom divine elephant and stomped at the Barrier Shield; the Barrier Beasts held out for twenty breaths before the phantom vanished.
• The Barrier Beasts surrendered, but their iron-chain restrictions forced them to stand again and rebuild the Barrier Shield.
• Su Mu formed a phantom Black and White Divine Tree, cracking the surrounding space and stirring recognition in the Barrier Beasts.

Su Mu defeated the two Barrier Beasts, broke the Iron Chains restricting them, and recruited them as Spirit Pets. The Barrier Beasts opened the stone gate and led Su Mu and the Iron-Eating Beast inside, while the Little Marmot stayed behind.

• Su Mu shattered the Barrier Beasts' shield with the Black and White Divine Tree, leaving them unable to stand.
• Su Mu used Black Axe to cut the Iron Chains from the Barrier Beasts' legs and free them from their restrictions.
• The Iron-Eating Beast urged the Barrier Beasts to thank Su Mu, and they agreed to follow him as their master.
• Su Mu asked the Iron-Eating Beast to look after the Barrier Beasts, welcoming them into the family.
• The Barrier Beasts opened the stone gate with their scepters and led Su Mu and the Iron-Eating Beast inside.
• The Iron-Eating Beast told the Little Marmot to stay behind, and the Little Marmot resolved to become stronger.

Su Mu discovered and took an ancient Square Cauldron hidden beneath the swamp, then restored the waterway and earned 400,000 Favor Points. As he headed home with the Barrier Beasts and the others, he asked who had placed their restrictions.

• Su Mu found an enormous, ancient Square Cauldron beneath the swamp, but the Barrier Beasts and Iron-Eating Beast did not recognize it.
• Su Mu froze the water barrier with his Water Control Mystical Power and stored the Square Cauldron in his Dantian Space, causing the Iron Wall Space to collapse.
• Su Mu escaped with the Barrier Beasts, the Iron-Eating Beast, and the Little Marmot, then restored the swamp by drawing water and fish from the Main River Channel.
• The system awarded Su Mu 400,000 Favor Points for maintaining the river channel, raising his River Affinity from eighty-five percent to eighty-nine percent.
• As Su Mu traveled home, he asked the Barrier Beasts who had placed restrictions on them.

Su Mu discovered that a mysterious figure had erased the Barrier Beasts’ memories to keep his identity hidden, while the figure’s agents reported that the item behind the stone door had been lost. Su Mu brought the Barrier Beasts home as new members of his household, where Nannan recognized them from somewhere.

• As the Barrier Beasts prepared to reveal their former master’s identity, a pair of Void Hands erased their memories before Su Mu could trace the attack.
• Su Mu reassured the confused Barrier Beasts, and the Iron-Eating Beast realized that the enemy could erase memories across time and space.
• In a Chaos Space, the Chaos Figure told two kneeling subordinates that the Barrier Beasts had betrayed him and the item had been lost, then ordered them to proceed with their task as usual.
• The Chaos Figure sensed that the trajectory had shifted while Su Mu returned home with the Barrier Beasts.
• Su Mu introduced the Barrier Beasts to Nannan, Old Green Ox, Xiao Bai, the Five Little Ones, and the rest of the household, and Nannan said she had seen them before.

Nannan revealed that she had dreamed of the Barrier Beasts’ creation, astonishing Su Mu and the beasts. Su Mu named the beasts Big Ear and Big Eye and assigned them to guard the Front Yard, while the Iron-Eating Beast was sent to help in the Backyard.

• Nannan explained that she had dreamed of two split stones becoming the Barrier Beasts, and the beasts realized she had seen their creation.
• Su Mu chose not to investigate Nannan’s dream further and asked the Barrier Beasts whether they had names.
• Su Mu named the beasts Big Ear and Big Eye and told them to guard the Front Yard.
• The Iron-Eating Beast worried that the new guards had taken its job, so Su Mu assigned it to help in the Backyard.