Chapter Summaries

The Barrier Beasts proved their defenses could withstand attacks from the Backyard’s strongest residents, and Nannan showed them the treasures and welcoming home they had joined. Su Mu investigated the mysterious Square Cauldron and discovered it resonated with the Black and White Divine Tree when they touched.

• The Barrier Beasts created a shield, and the Little Brown Bear, Little Squirrel, Little Monkey, and Little Owl were each flung back when they attacked it.
• The Iron-Eating Beast lamented losing its Front Yard position while Nannan introduced the Barrier Beasts to the Backyard’s Holy medicines and Water Cellar.
• The Barrier Beasts felt welcomed and resolved to serve Su Mu wholeheartedly, remembering that their former master had treated them as expendable Chess Pieces.
• Su Mu tested the Square Cauldron with spiritual power and medicinal ingredients but found it could neither be activated nor refine pills.
• Su Mu placed the Square Cauldron in his Dantian Space and moved it toward the Black and White Divine Tree, which resonated with it when they touched.

Su Mu fused the Square Cauldron with the Black and White Divine Tree, raising his cultivation to the Half-Step Immortal Realm. After leaving half of the treasures the Iron-Eating Beast and the Barrier Beasts found for them to use, he reassigned the Front Yard guard duty, while he remained unaware that the Myriad Realms had changed.

• The Square Cauldron merged with the Black and White Divine Tree, transforming Su Mu's body and raising his cultivation to the Half-Step Immortal Realm.
• The next day, the Iron-Eating Beast, the Barrier Beasts, and the Groundhog presented Su Mu with treasures looted from the Iron Wall Space.
• Su Mu kept half the treasures and told the Spirit Pets they could use the rest for their cultivation.
• Su Mu praised the Iron-Eating Beast and assigned it to the Backyard, leaving the Barrier Beasts to guard the Front Yard.
• The Iron-Eating Beast sulked over losing its easy Front Yard post until the Groundhog persuaded it to go to the Backyard.
• While Su Mu was out on patrol, he remained unaware that the Myriad Realms had changed because of the previous day's events.

The chapter traced the Shepherd Heaven Alliance’s rise from secretly conquering Tian An God Domain to becoming a prosperous Lower God Domain and a renowned dark horse. It recounted how the disappearance of thirty-six Upper God Domain lords sparked panic, then showed how three Middle God Domains conquered and divided one Upper God Domain, shaking the God Domain Realm.

• The Shepherd Heaven Alliance secretly took Tian An God Domain and spent tens of thousands of years strengthening its control before renaming it Shepherd Heaven God Domain.
• The Shepherd Heaven God Domain flourished and entered the God Domain Circle as a powerful Lower God Domain and a celebrated dark horse.
• A hundred years earlier, the lords of thirty-six Upper God Domains vanished on the same day, and their second-in-commands claimed they had entered seclusion.
• Fifty years earlier, a powerful Middle God Domain attacked an Upper God Domain and discovered that its lord did not appear to defend it.
• The attacking Middle God Domain joined forces with two others, and the three conquered and divided the Upper God Domain within thirty years.

As the God Domain Realm descended into a war over resources, Wu Zhong sought Dong’er’s counsel on whether and how the Shepherd Heaven Alliance should intervene. Dong’er agreed they had to participate and began by asking him a question about his detailed plan.

• The Upper God Domains were left leaderless as rival domains began attacking and claiming territory.
• Wu Zhong visited Dong’er at Nan Mu Island to discuss the Shepherd Heaven Alliance’s response to the turmoil.
• Wu Zhong argued that the alliance risked falling behind if it did not claim resources, and Dong’er agreed it had to participate in the Resource Contention War.
• Wu Zhong showed Dong’er his detailed campaign plan, and she praised its overall design while preparing to identify flaws.
• Dong’er asked Wu Zhong a question before offering her criticism.

Dong'er persuaded Wu Zhong to keep the Shepherd Heaven Alliance out of the open Resource Contention War and quietly gather overlooked resources, using the metaphor of river sand surviving a flood and later forming a mountain. She handed Wu Zhong a Memory Crystal containing information that shocked him, leaving him asking how she had discovered it.

• Dong'er explained why she would choose River Bottom's Sinking Sand over the Solid Reef or Towering Willow Tree to survive the flood.
• Dong'er described how the Shepherd Heaven Alliance could avoid the main conflict and secretly absorb resources that fell from stronger competitors.
• Wu Zhong realized his plan to position the alliance as a mid-tier competitor was too risky and agreed that they should quietly preserve their strength.
• Dong'er corrected Wu Zhong's description of the overlooked resources as scraps, calling them delectable dishes, then gave him a Memory Crystal.
• Wu Zhong examined the Memory Crystal, widened his eyes, and asked Dong'er how she had discovered its information.

Dong'er revealed that she had spent a century using deductions and the World Patrol Legion to identify more than a thousand overlooked worlds rich in hidden resources. She explained that she began preparing after the thirty-six God Domain Lords vanished, and Wu Zhong realized she had acted as soon as the news broke.

• Wu Zhong examined Dong'er's Memory Crystal and was stunned by the valuable resources hidden in weak worlds, including ten undiscovered Primal Dragon Crystal Spirit Veins in the Earth Profound Continent.
• Wu Zhong asked Dong'er how she had uncovered the worlds' secrets.
• Dong'er said she had begun laying the groundwork a hundred years earlier, after news spread that the thirty-six God Domain Lords had vanished.
• Dong'er explained that her deductions gave the Lords a seventy percent chance of being dead, so she predicted a resource war and secretly mobilized the World Patrol Legion to gather samples.
• Dong'er revealed that she had spent a century performing thousands of deductions each day and had kept the work secret from Wu Zhong and the others.
• Wu Zhong asked whether Dong'er had begun her plans the moment the news first appeared.

Dong'er explained to Wu Zhong the hundred-year plan she had devised to exploit the coming war and secure resources for the alliance. She urged him to wait until the God Domain Realm was in chaos and recommended a promising young man for him to recruit as a disciple.

• Dong'er told Wu Zhong she had spent a hundred years gathering information and preparing a plan, and he stored the Memory Crystal and prepared to act.
• Dong'er advised Wu Zhong to wait three years, when the God Domain Realm would be consumed by war, and warned him to keep the plan secret while disguising their targets.
• Dong'er handed Wu Zhong an envelope about a young man in the alliance and said his potential ranked among the top five of their young people.
• Wu Zhong recognized the young man as the fierce recruit who had subdued seven Great Worlds and decided to find him himself.
• Dong'er warned Wu Zhong that the young man was withdrawn and would require patience if Wu Zhong wanted to take him as a disciple.

Dong’er reflected on the bloodline world barrier preventing her from awakening the full power of the Wisdom God Race and helping her Master. Wu Zhong met Su Ming to learn why the accomplished young cultivator had refused a promotion, leaving Su Ming poised to answer.

• After Wu Zhong departed, Dong’er considered the mystery of the thirty-six slain Domain Lords and her inability to find her hidden clansmen.
• Dong’er recalled that awakening her bloodline required breaking its world barrier, which she believed would let her aid her Master and uncover deeper truths.
• Wu Zhong arrived disguised at Su Ming’s austere home on a barren mountain in the Shepherd Heaven God Domain.
• Su Ming welcomed Wu Zhong despite not recognizing him, and offered him ordinary spring water.
• Wu Zhong recounted Su Ming’s rise from the Immortal Domain and his conquest of the Seven Realms, then asked why he had refused the Vice Captain title.

Su Ming explained to Wu Zhong that he rejected titles and exchanged his Cave Abode reward for resources to support the Dark Evolution Devil Realm. After Wu Zhong questioned the value of that support, Su Ming reflected on the obsession that kept him attached to his homeland.

• Su Ming told Wu Zhong that Alliance titles and status might bind him and distract him from cultivation.
• Wu Zhong questioned why Su Ming avoided higher status despite the Alliance's upright atmosphere and its benefits.
• Su Ming revealed that he exchanged his Cave Abode reward for cultivation resources and sent them to his homeland.
• Wu Zhong identified the Dark Evolution Devil Realm as Su Ming's homeland and argued that its low World Level limited what Su Ming's support could achieve.
• Su Ming remained silent as memories surfaced and recognized that an obsession he had long sought kept him from letting go of the Dark Evolution Devil Realm.

Wu Zhong offered to take Su Ming as his disciple, but Su Ming had not yet decided whether to accept. As Wu Zhong pondered Su Ming’s attachment to the Dark Evolution Devil Realm, Jin Yao returned and asked what was troubling him.

• Su Ming recalled his master’s message about using the Time Wood to cross the River of Time and his hesitation about seeking the Dark Evolution Devil Realm’s ancestor.
• Wu Zhong asked Su Ming to become his disciple, promised not to restrict him, and gave him a purple-gold token before leaving.
• Wu Zhong reviewed Su Ming’s history and wondered why he sent resources to the Dark Evolution Devil Realm while refusing to let it join the Shepherd Heaven Alliance.
• Wu Zhong spent the night drinking tea and puzzling over how to win Su Ming as a disciple.
• Jin Yao returned, told Wu Zhong she had taken two disciples, and asked whether one of his disciples had caused trouble.

Wu Zhong asked Jin Yao about Su Ming, whose refusal to become his disciple had left him curious about the young man’s ties to the Dark Evolution Devil Realm. Jin Yao brought her two disciples, Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan, to meet him, leaving their connection to Su Ming to be discovered.

• Jin Yao laughed at Wu Zhong for being refused by Su Ming, then learned Dong'er had praised Su Ming as one of the Alliance’s top five Heaven's Chosen.
• Wu Zhong told Jin Yao that Su Ming came from and secretly supported the Dark Evolution Devil Realm, and Jin Yao revealed that her two new disciples also came from there.
• Wu Zhong asked to meet Jin Yao’s disciples, and she agreed to bring them to him.
• Ye Qingran planted a Moon Shadow Tree at the Cave Abode she shared with Bai Yuechan, then corrected Bai Yuechan for continuing to call her master.
• Jin Yao arrived at the Cave Abode and led Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan away to meet someone.

Jin Yao brought Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan to Nan Mu Island, where they met Wu Zhong, their Martial Uncle. Learning that Su Ming also came from their former home, the Four Emperors Continent, Wu Zhong asked Ye Qingran to meet him, hoping she could help persuade him to become Wu Zhong’s disciple.

• Jin Yao led Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan across the sea to Nan Mu Island, whose formations suppressed their cultivation and protected Dong'er.
• Jin Yao introduced the two women to Wu Zhong, who welcomed them and asked about their origins.
• Ye Qingran explained that she and Bai Yuechan had come from the Four Emperors Continent, which had later become the Dark Evolution Devil Realm.
• Wu Zhong revealed that he wanted to take a fellow from their homeland as his disciple, but the man was reluctant.
• Wu Zhong told Ye Qingran that the man was Su Ming and sent her his location within the God Domain.

Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan traveled to meet Su Ming, whom Ye Qingran recognized as her old rival from the Four Emperors Continent. After learning Su Ming had ascended to the Divine Realm through his own strength, he asked Ye Qingran whether she had encountered the Ancestor while traveling through time.

• Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan left Southern Shepherd Immortal Island to find the person Wu Zhong had asked them to meet.
• After three days of travel, Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan arrived at Su Ming's home on a barren mountain.
• Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan recognized Su Ming as the former Hall Master of the Dark Evolution Demon Hall, and Su Ming recognized Ye Qingran as the former Sect Leader of the Dao Ancient Divine Sect.
• Ye Qingran and Su Ming discussed their past enmity and realized they had both left the Four Emperors Continent aboard Time Wood, though Su Ming had ascended through his own strength.
• Su Ming asked Ye Qingran whether she had encountered the Ancestor while crossing the River of Time.

Su Ming learned from Ye Qingran that the Ancestor he had spent his life seeking was the Master worshipped at the Shepherd Heaven Temple. He realized he had already followed the right path as a member of the Shepherd Heaven Alliance and thanked Ye Qingran.

• Su Ming told Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan about the Four Emperors’ history and his lifelong search for the Ancestor.
• Ye Qingran said she had met the Ancestor and led Su Ming and Bai Yuechan to the Shepherd Heaven Temple.
• Ye Qingran worshipped before the Master’s statue and revealed that the Ancestor was the Master.
• Su Ming recognized the statue as the figure he had once encountered on the River of Time and understood that joining the Shepherd Heaven Alliance had put him on the right path.
• Su Ming kowtowed three times before the statue and thanked Ye Qingran.

Ye Qingran helped Su Ming resolve his lingering doubts about the Shepherd Heaven Alliance, and he chose to devote himself fully to it. After learning the history behind Su Ming and Ye Qingran’s ties to Master Ancestor, Wu Zhong and Jin Yao gained a deeper appreciation for Su Ming, while Dong’er reacted strangely to Wu Zhong’s account.

• Ye Qingran told Su Ming that his persistence had brought him to the Divine Realm and helped him let go of his hostility toward the alliance.
• Su Ming admitted he had refused every office and reward, then learned that Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan shared Jin Yao as their master.
• After Ye Qingran and Bai Yuechan left, Su Ming knelt before the Divine Statue, resolved to give his life to the Shepherd Heaven Alliance, and stared at the token left by the middle-aged man.
• Ye Qingran told Jin Yao and Wu Zhong that she and Su Ming had once been enemies and explained their shared history with Master Ancestor.
• Wu Zhong and Jin Yao praised Su Ming’s loyalty and perseverance, and Wu Zhong later told Dong’er the full story.
• Dong’er fell into thought and looked uneasy, prompting Wu Zhong to ask what was wrong.

Dong'er and Wu Zhong realized that Su Mu might have secretly visited worlds under the Shepherd Heaven Alliance, while Su Ming became Wu Zhong’s final disciple and was appointed chief of the upcoming Resource Contention Plan. Meanwhile, Su Mu investigated the Main River Channel’s steadily falling water level and discovered a stretch where the current suddenly sped up.

• Dong'er told Wu Zhong that rumors from alliance worlds claimed Master had appeared there, and Wu Zhong wondered why Master had never visited the six siblings.
• Dong'er and Wu Zhong concluded that Master might be watching over the alliance, and they resolved to act carefully.
• Su Ming became Wu Zhong’s final disciple, and Wu Zhong appointed him chief of the Resource Contention Plan scheduled for several years later.
• Su Mu patrolled the Long River, using his control over the water to clear debris, rescue stranded fish, and remove weeds.
• Su Mu found that the Main River Channel’s water level had fallen by one and a half meters, harming tributaries, but he could not identify the cause.
• Su Mu entered a stretch where the current abruptly accelerated and hurried forward to investigate.

Su Mu followed a Headless Man carrying river water to a secluded Purple Bamboo Forest and discovered a pond surrounded by five pavilions. There, the White-Brow Old Man invited him in for tea, leaving Su Mu to inspect a puzzling arrangement of wooden stakes in the pond.

• Su Mu saw the Headless Man fill two buckets with river water and carry them to a pond, then secretly followed him.
• The Headless Man repeatedly returned to the river for more water, and Su Mu transformed into purple bamboo to avoid being noticed.
• While the Headless Man was away, Su Mu examined the pond and wondered how long it had taken to fill it.
• The White-Brow Old Man called Su Mu into the pavilion courtyard and invited him to sit while he prepared tea.
• Su Mu noticed ninety-nine wooden stakes arranged in the pond like a formation, though they showed no spiritual power fluctuations.

Su Mu visited Old Man Yang, who had lived beside the river for decades, and discussed the falling water level and the Headless Man carrying water. Old Man Yang gave Su Mu a prepared gift to ease his guilt over drawing water from the river, and Su Mu accepted it, leaving Yang relieved that the River Warden was more approachable than rumored.

• Su Mu met Old Man Yang, who recognized him as the River Warden and said he had lived beside the river for decades.
• Old Man Yang deduced that Su Mu was troubled by the river's water level dropping by more than a meter.
• Su Mu asked whether the Headless Man was Old Man Yang's family, and Yang said he was the only person left by his side.
• Old Man Yang admitted he had taken river water for his pond and offered Su Mu a prepared gift as compensation.
• Su Mu accepted the bamboo-and-wood box after Old Man Yang insisted, and Yang felt relieved.

Su Mu learned that the White-Brow Old Man had spent decades carrying water to fill his pond and built the surrounding pavilions as a quiet retreat. While the old man could leave his little haven at will, Su Mu regarded the River of Time as a prison and wanted to find a way out; the chapter ended with the old man heading inside after asking whether Su Mu enjoyed fishing.

• Su Mu asked why the White-Brow Old Man had built five elaborate pavilions and a huge pond, and learned that he had carried the water there bucket by bucket over several decades.
• The White-Brow Old Man said he only wished to protect his own little patch of land, and Su Mu replied that his own patch was a river.
• Su Mu reflected that the old man had chosen a secluded life, while he still wanted to experience the wider world and escape the River of Time.
• Su Mu asked about the Wooden Stakes in the pond, and the White-Brow Old Man said they were for suppression before asking whether Su Mu enjoyed fishing.
• The White-Brow Old Man told Su Mu to wait and walked toward the house.

Su Mu fished with the White-Brow Old Daoist, known as Brother Yang, while trying to learn whether he was connected to Su Mu’s enemies. Brother Yang declared that he was not Su Mu’s enemy, then hauled a colossal creature from the pond.

• The White-Brow Old Daoist invited Su Mu to fish, and both chose their own rods and bait.
• Su Mu used bait made from rare great medicines while the White-Brow Old Daoist used a locust tree leaf.
• As they chatted, Su Mu tried to learn about Brother Yang, but the guarded old man revealed little.
• Brother Yang asked whether he could peacefully remain on Su Mu’s river, and Su Mu gave him permission.
• Brother Yang said he was not Su Mu’s enemy, then pulled a colossal creature from the pond.