Chapter Summaries

Su Mu uncovered an empty Ice Coffin beneath the small mound and learned from the system that he was the river’s only River Warden, but the source of his grief remained unknown. Elsewhere, three Chaos Figures argued over their failed plan and discovered that Su Mu could freeze the Time Water in the River of Time.

• Su Mu dug beneath the mound and found a sealed, unusually heavy Ice Coffin that resisted his Solidification power.
• Su Mu asked the system about the coffin and learned that there had always been only one River Warden.
• Su Mu placed an item inside the Ice Coffin, restored the mound, and left, deciding that time might reveal the truth.
• Three Chaos Figures discussed their failed plan and argued over the third figure’s actions involving Jiang Bai.
• The third Chaos Figure said Su Mu had frozen the Time Water, and the first figure concluded that the River Warden’s control had advanced to another level.

Three Chaos Figures discussed the River Warden’s growing power over the River of Time, including his ability to freeze Time Water and perhaps cultivate atop the river. They then confronted evidence that the Main River Channel’s water level had fallen by more than a meter and that worlds were disappearing, leaving them unsure who was responsible.

• The third Chaos Figure reported that the River Warden had frozen hundreds of square meters of Time Water, trapping Jiang Bai and preventing his death until the third figure killed him personally.
• The Chaos Figures reviewed what they knew of the River Warden’s control over the River of Time, and the third figure suggested he might be cultivating there.
• The second figure dismissed the idea that anyone could cultivate above the origin, and the third figure said he suspected the River of Time’s water level had dropped.
• The first figure revealed that vast numbers of worlds in the Myriad Realms had been disappearing without a trace, and linked their disappearance to the falling water level.
• The third figure estimated that the Main River Channel had dropped by more than a meter, and the first figure said the River Warden might not be responsible.

The Chaos Figures concluded that the River Warden was lowering the River of Time’s water level as part of his pursuit of the Final Transcendence, and feared he was close to taking the last step. Back home, Su Mu found comfort in the peaceful sight of his family, while Nannan woke from a nightmare and asked him to hold her.

• The Chaos Figures considered whether another survivor of the Zeroing had lowered the River of Time’s water level, and reasoned that whoever did so must have exceptional control over the river.
• The first Chaos Figure argued that the River Warden treated the myriad worlds as chess pieces and was using the River of Time to seek transcendence, just as the Chaos Figures would.
• The first Chaos Figure concluded that the River Warden might already be attempting the final step, so the Chaos Figures decided to hasten their plan and stopped probing.
• Su Mu returned home late at night and found Nannan, Little Fox, the Barrier Beasts, and the other little ones peacefully asleep.
• Nannan woke, asked Su Mu to hold her while she slept, and told him that she had just had a nightmare.

Su Mu comforted Nannan after a bad dream and resolved to finish refining the Long River so she could leave their isolated life behind. He investigated the first location from Jiang Bai’s memories, where he found unnaturally clear, lifeless water, and encountered the Transparent Fish.

• Su Mu soothed Nannan back to sleep and worried that life on the river had made her insecure and deprived her of happiness.
• When Nannan woke at midday, Su Mu suggested a trip to the ancient city, but she refused because she valued their remaining time together and had chores and projects to finish.
• Su Mu decided to refine the Long River faster and went downstream to investigate the three locations he had learned about from Jiang Bai’s memories.
• Su Mu reached a distant stretch of clear water with no visible fish, shrimp, or algae, though the water itself was clean and undamaged.
• A fish bone rose from the riverbed and revealed itself as the Transparent Fish Su Mu had contracted, leaving him puzzled about why it was there.

Su Mu followed the Transparent Fish to a hidden vortex that was grinding fish from more than thirty tributaries into remains and drawing them into a stone gate. He decided to destroy the gate, the source of the destructive vortex.

• Su Mu followed the Transparent Fish to a transparent barrier, where it buried itself in the River Sand and vanished from sight.
• Su Mu discovered that the barrier concealed more than a thousand formations reinforced by dozens of advanced Law Powers, then passed through it.
• Su Mu found a ten-kilometer-wide vortex surrounding a stone gate, with water from thirty-four tributaries feeding into it.
• Su Mu learned that the vortex was pulling fish into its currents, grinding them into remains, and leaving most connected tributaries devoid of living creatures.
• Su Mu identified the stone gate as the vortex's source and raised his hand to attack it.

At the God Punishment Sect, Jiang Li told Yue Ying that cultivators were ultimately reduced to ash and urged him to take command of the Third Hall. Their argument was interrupted when the God Punishment Gate began to shake.

• Jiang Li asked Yue Ying what meaning cultivation had, then said cultivators became ash and served as nourishment for greater figures.
• Yue Ying warned Jiang Li not to speak carelessly, but Jiang Li insisted they were both chess pieces serving their lords.
• Jiang Li offered to place the Third Hall in Yue Ying's hands after the God Punishment ended, and Yue Ying hesitated over accepting it.
• The earth shook, and Yue Ying recognized that the disturbance was coming from the God Punishment Gate.

As the God Punishment Stone Gate shook, Jiang Li revealed that the Third Hall had been discovered and ordered its five thousand people to activate the God Punishment Falling Sky Formation. He opened a passage through the gate to the River of Time, then froze and trembled at what he saw beyond it.

• The God Punishment Stone Gate began shaking, and Jiang Li told Yue Ying that the Third Hall had been exposed.
• Jiang Li warned Yue Ying to wait for his voice transmission before using the Punishment Control Stone to escape.
• Jiang Li looked over the five thousand people in the Third Hall and regretted bringing his former master, cousin, and benefactor into the danger.
• Jiang Li ordered everyone to activate the God Punishment Falling Sky Formation, and the five thousand people spread across the black earth to form it.
• Jiang Li used the Punishment Control Stone to open a passage through the gate to the River of Time, then trembled as he looked beyond it.

Jiang Li sacrificed the Third Hall’s God Punishment Gate to lead his people against Su Mu, but Su Mu destroyed them with a single gesture. Yue Ying escaped with the Third Hall’s World Stone, only to discover it had vanished.

• Jiang Li saw Su Mu watching from above the River of Time and charged through the stone gate with five thousand people, while Yue Ying watched in terror.
• Jiang Li sacrificed the God Punishment Gate to activate the Fallen Sky Array and bring the Third Hall’s fighters above the long river.
• Su Mu froze the fighters and shattered their bodies and souls, then destroyed the array and its Fireflies; a few particles entered a stone that fell into the vortex.
• Yue Ying received the Third Hall’s World Stone after the stone gate disappeared and escaped the sealed space, believing Jiang Li and the others had died.
• Yue Ying fled across Great Worlds to a desolate immortal realm and discovered that the World Stone Jiang Li had given him was gone.

Yue Ying discovered that he had lost the World Stone and hurried away, while the stone had already carried Jiang Li’s consciousness to a new world. After twelve years, Jiang Li was reborn without cultivation or karma, free from the Lords and ready to live as an ordinary cultivator.

• Yue Ying searched for the missing World Stone, panicked over failing Jiang Li, and left to find out what remained of his Nine Halls.
• The World Stone landed on the Xiao Yue continent, where it gave rise to an ancient forest and a humanoid tree bearing four crystalline fruits.
• Thirteen years later, the golden fruit fell and Jiang Li emerged from its Immortal Light.
• Jiang Li revealed that he had used Yue Ying and the River Warden to fake his death, escape the Lords, and preserve the consciousnesses of three others in the silver fruits.
• Jiang Li had abandoned his cultivation and washed away his karma, leaving himself a mortal beyond the Lords’ notice.

Jiang Li chose to abandon his former path and begin a mortal life anew, freeing himself from his lord’s control. He left the three reborn Silver Fruits behind and hoped to live freely, do good, and one day learn who won the struggle between his former lord and the River Warden.

• Jiang Li reflected that his lord had treated him and his followers as disposable Chess Pieces, and he decided not to gamble on being rewarded if his lord succeeded.
• Jiang Li told the three Silver Fruits that they would be reborn in a hundred years without their memories or cultivation, though their talents would remain.
• Jiang Li urged the three to choose their own paths and live freely, and he hoped they would do more good than they had in their past lives.
• Jiang Li departed from the ancient forest, declaring that green hills lay everywhere and choosing to begin again rather than fall into the River of Time.
• Jiang Li settled on an ordinary continent, hoping to witness who would ultimately win the game of chess.

After resolving a stone-gate vortex, Su Mu restored the damaged tributaries’ ecosystems and earned Favor Points before traveling to another similar vortex. Elsewhere, Yue Ying debated whether to confess his role in the Three Halls’ destruction when the God Punishment Gate suddenly shook.

• Su Mu received 80,000 Favor Points for handling the Chaos anomaly, then gathered aquatic creatures and plants from the Main River Channel and released them into the damaged tributaries.
• Su Mu earned another 20,000 Favor Points and traveled to a second location, where he found a smaller vortex with a stone gate and twelve affected tributaries.
• In another world, Yue Ying worried that his lord would punish him for not reporting the Three Halls’ destruction and his flight with the World Stone.
• Yue Ying resolved to confess, but a deafening boom shook the God Punishment Gate, and he turned toward it in terror.

Yue Ying tried to flee the Ninth Hall as the God Punishment Gate opened, but the River Warden’s hands annihilated him and everyone else there. Above the Long River, Su Mu reached through the stone gate, retrieved a stone, and wondered what it was.

• Yue Ying ordered the Ninth Hall to await his command while secretly preparing to escape with its World Stone.
• Yue Ying struck an invisible barrier that sealed off the world, trapping him as the God Punishment Gate stopped shaking.
• Void Hands emerged from the gate and killed the Ninth Hall’s cultivators, leaving Yue Ying alone.
• The Void Hands crushed Yue Ying, wiping out the Ninth Hall completely.
• Above the Long River, Su Mu passed his hand through the stone gate, retrieved a stone, and asked what it was.

Su Mu dealt with two more vortices, seized one stone gate, and refined the Long River to 92% affinity. In Chaos Space, the second Chaos Figure accused the third of leaking the locations of his destroyed halls to Su Mu.

• Su Mu controlled the stone gate with a strange stone, discovered its vast inner world and lethal power, erased a hidden mark, and claimed it.
• Su Mu restored the affected waters, earning a total of 173,000 Favor Points for the day before heading home.
• Su Mu reached the third location the next morning, found another vortex, and gained 40,000 Favor Points after the stone gate shattered.
• Su Mu spent 200,000 Favor Points refining the Long River, raising his River Affinity from 90% to 92%.
• The second Chaos Figure raged over the destruction of his Third, Seventh, and Ninth Halls, then accused the third Chaos Figure of leaking their coordinates to Su Mu.

The Chaos Figures discussed the destruction of three Divine Punishment Ninth Hall strongholds and assigned new hall masters to protect the six remaining halls. Jiang Li’s former master deduced that Jiang Li had escaped by abandoning his cultivation and severing causality, while Jiang Li realized his escape had succeeded and formed a new plan.

• The second Chaos Figure accused the third of leaking information that enabled the River Warden to destroy his three halls, but the first Chaos Figure called the destruction a coincidence and urged them to focus on the plan.
• The first Chaos Figure offered three of his Chess Pieces as new hall masters for the Fourth Hall, Fifth Hall, and Eighth Hall, and the third agreed.
• The second Chaos Figure deduced that Jiang Li had used a World Stone to abandon his cultivation, become an ordinary person, and disappear into the Myriad Realms.
• The second Chaos Figure decided not to spend time searching for Jiang Li, reasoning that losing one Chess Piece would not justify disrupting the plan.
• Jiang Li looked into the void, recognized that his escape had succeeded, and formed a plan that only someone outside causality could carry out.

After resolving the whirlpools, Su Mu searched remote Long River waters for the cause of the Main River Channel’s Water Level Decrease. His patrol led him to a concealed residence where he heard someone smithing, but he had not yet identified its occupant.

• Su Mu reflected on his recent gains and the loss of his earlier methods for exploiting the system, while considering the Water Level Decrease and threats to his home.
• Su Mu patrolled unfamiliar, remote waters and noticed they were unusually clean and tranquil.
• Su Mu followed a gradual rise in temperature to a reef-covered area and discovered a smooth rocky expanse enclosed by living trees.
• Su Mu restrained his aura, transformed into a Firefly, and slipped through a gap in the wooden wall.
• Su Mu followed stone Fire Braziers toward a powerful aura and heard the ringing of metal being struck.

Su Mu watched a blacksmith whose body cultivation and forging skill had both reached the ultimate level. As the blacksmith worked with pure enjoyment, Su Mu became intensely interested in him.

• Su Mu saw a tall, lean blacksmith hammering iron beside a stone furnace and sensed that his entire body held immense power.
• Su Mu recognized the man as a pure body cultivator whose physical strength surpassed any he had encountered.
• Su Mu observed the blacksmith strike the same spot with flawless control as the iron sheet gradually took shape.
• Su Mu sensed that the blacksmith felt only enjoyment in forging, with no desire to become stronger.
• Su Mu became dazed and intensely interested in the blacksmith.

Su Mu watched a mysterious man forge and inscribe a powerful Dragon Bone Spear, but the man remained dissatisfied and carried it toward the water for a final step. Su Mu followed to see how he would finish it.

• The man hammered iron into a spear, then reshaped it by hand inside the Sacred Flame.
• The man extracted Dragon Spirit Marrow and crushed a Sacred Beast’s spine, using them to create the Dragon Bone Spear.
• Su Mu judged the newly forged spear a T3-grade treasure, powerful enough to serve an Immortal Emperor.
• The man inscribed thirty-eight million runes and five hundred and eighty Dragon Rhythm Paintings into the spear, then shook his head in dissatisfaction.
• The man carried the spear toward the water, and Su Mu followed him.

Su Mu watched a Bald Man finish forging the Dragon Bone Spear, only for him to discard it among thousands of exceptional weapons he considered failures. The Bald Man welcomed Su Mu to take any treasures he wanted, then struggled to remember whether they had met or what his own name was.

• The Bald Man cooled the Dragon Bone Spear in the river, completing an intricate forging process that took all night.
• After returning to the Stone Hall, the Bald Man threw the spear into a pit filled with thousands of discarded weapons and reflected on his forging.
• Su Mu approached the Bald Man, who invited him to take weapons from the pit or choose among the treasures inside the Stone Hall.
• Su Mu asked whether they knew each other, and the Bald Man admitted he could not remember many things.
• Su Mu introduced himself, and the Bald Man paused to try to recall his own name.

Su Mu explored Wu Di’s Stone Hall and discovered nearly three thousand remarkably flawless magic treasures, many at the Dao-Fusion or Dao-Slaying level. He realized that Wu Di had forged by hand treasures that were normally formed by heaven and earth, leaving him amazed by the craftsman’s skill.

• The man remembered that his name was Wu Di and returned to forging without asking Su Mu why he had come.
• Su Mu entered the Stone Hall and noticed a Treasure Pearl that seemed to serve as Wu Di’s storage space, but he did not probe it further.
• Su Mu examined the treasures hanging on the walls and found 2,999 near-flawless magic treasures, including many at the Dao-Fusion level and one spear at the Dao-Slaying level.
• Su Mu recalled the origins of the Yan Yuan Furnace and concluded that Dao Artifacts were naturally formed, not forged by people.
• Su Mu realized that Wu Di had crafted by hand treasures that should have been products of heaven and earth.

Su Mu discovered that Wu Di forged the powerful Dao Artifacts in his collection and watched him craft an Apex Emperor Weapon in an hour. Impressed by Wu Di's skill, Su Mu considered recruiting him but stopped him before he could begin forging again.

• Su Mu decided Wu Di was an exceptional talent he wanted to recruit for the faction he planned to establish after leaving the river.
• Su Mu recalled the Children of Destiny who had signed loans with him and planned to track them down using their Blood Seals and auras.
• Wu Di returned with a silver Apex Emperor Weapon he had forged in an hour, replaced a slightly inferior weapon on his wall, and tossed the old one into an abandoned pit.
• Wu Di inspected a short sword, took meteorite iron from the Treasure Pearl, and headed to the Forging Table to make a better one.
• Su Mu called out to stop Wu Di, and Wu Di turned around and asked what he wanted.