Chapter Summaries

Ye Qingran, Song Zhi'an, and Huang Yingying entered the Four Emperors Forbidden Ground, where the Four Emperors appeared fifty years before their expected gathering. After Ye Qingran asked what they sought, one of them said they had already found it, and Li Changtan recognized a figure as the Ancestor.

• Song Zhi'an led Ye Qingran and Huang Yingying through the forbidden ground while they discussed its history and the Four Emperors' century-long search.
• The forbidden ground trembled, and the three fled as four figures surrounded by dark clouds and divine lightning appeared overhead.
• Ye Qingran asked the four figures what they were searching for, and one replied that they had already found it.
• Ye Qingran's master and Grandmaster arrived to protect the group, and Li Changtan knelt before one of the Four Emperors and addressed him as the Ancestor.

The Bone Emperor revealed that he had found the Time Wood and prepared to leave the world, while instructing the Dao Ancient Divine Sect to remain humble and revere the man who had exiled him. After the Bone Emperor sent them away with an extra piece of Time Wood, Ye Qingran resolved to become strong enough to seek him out.

• Li Changtan told the Bone Emperor that he was the Dao Ancient Divine Sect’s thirty-seventh Sect Leader and that the sect had searched for the Time Wood for ten thousand years.
• The Bone Emperor said he had found the Time Wood, would leave the world, and did not blame the sect for failing to find it sooner.
• The Bone Emperor rejected Li Changtan’s offer to help him seek revenge and warned the sect that greater powers existed beyond their world.
• The Bone Emperor instructed Li Changtan to follow the River of Time upstream if they ever became strong enough, and to treat the man who exiled him with reverence as a benefactor and Founding Ancestor.
• The Bone Emperor gave Li Changtan an extra piece of Time Wood, explaining that it could carry one person, then sent the group beyond the forbidden grounds.
• Ye Qingran resolved to strive to become the Dao Ancient Divine Sect’s strongest person and see the wider world and its other Founding Ancestor.

Ye Qingran chose to enter seclusion in the dangerous Dao Ancient Sky Pool, and Li Changtan approved her decision. Meanwhile, after fifty thousand years on the continent, the Four Emperors prepared to return to the River of Time with the Time Wood they had finally found.

• Ye Qingran told her master she wanted to cultivate in seclusion at the Dao Ancient Sky Pool, shocking Song Zhi'an and Huang Yingying.
• Li Changtan asked whether Ye Qingran had considered the danger, and she said she was willing to try; he then gave her permission to go.
• The Four Emperors reflected on their fifty thousand years on the continent and their rise to powerful Heavenly Immortal ranks.
• Bone Emperor and the others accepted that their original mission had failed, but hoped to help the Main Battlefield by reaching the Immortal King Realm.
• Bone Emperor turned the Time Wood into a ship and asked the other three Emperors whether they had prepared their River Crossing Fees.

After preparing their sects and affairs, the Four Emperors left their world to enter the River of Time, where they hoped to meet the senior who had once changed their fates. At the riverbank, Su Mu hooked something unexpectedly heavy while fishing.

• The Four Emperors confirmed their preparations and discussed how their four sects had searched for the Time Wood.
• Dark Emperor explained that he had given Su Ming a piece of Time Wood and part of his inheritance after the disciple found the wood and chose the difficult path of cultivation.
• The Four Emperors rose into the sky and departed for the River of Time as Li Changtan, Ye Qingran, and others watched from afar.
• Su Mu sat fishing by the River of Time, looked away from his float for a moment, and then jerked his rod when it vanished beneath the water.

Su Mu caught a massive silver carp with a tail like a pair of scissors, while Xiao Huo and the other cultivators witnessed a Time-Space Kun Beast get hooked by the treasure it swallowed and dragged into the void. After escaping the secret realm, Xiao Huo heard his master suggest that a dream he had described might have been real.

• Su Mu hauled a heavy silver carp with deep-blue eyes and a scissor-shaped tail from the river.
• Xiao Huo entered the Hidden Abyss Secret Realm and watched powerful experts fight over a treasure above the Stone Plain.
• Black clouds immobilized the cultivators, and a vast Time-Space Kun Beast appeared, prompting Xiao Huo to prepare for his master to possess him.
• The Time-Space Kun Beast swallowed the treasure, then a beam of Immortal Light hooked it and pulled it into the void.
• Xiao Huo fled the secret realm and, after hearing his master say his dream might not have been a dream, reflected on the danger he had escaped.

Su Mu cooked Treasure Silver Carp in river water with a piece of Blood Tai Sui and felt its powerful nourishment as he ate. He bit into something hard hidden in the fish and examined it in confusion.

• Xiao Huo told the soul in his ring that he owed ten treasures to the man who had forced him to sign a contract, and the soul urged him to prepare for the man's return.
• Su Mu prepared the Treasure Silver Carp, fed its organs to Little Mahi, Kong Yao, and Little Crab, and cut the fish into slices.
• Su Mu boiled over a hundred fish slices in river water using Spirit Fire and added a fingernail-sized piece of Blood Tai Sui.
• Su Mu ate the fish, felt its energy spread through his body, and found a hard object in one of the bites.

Su Mu discovered that a fish bone and a green leaf contained connected writings that revealed the Law of Space, and the treasure fish’s energy helped him complete the Transformation Spirit Five Treasures. After using Favor Points to improve his affinity and abilities, he made a draw that left him stunned by its result.

• Su Mu found that the black fish bone’s runes were related to the writing on his green leaf, and together they revealed a rule rather than a cultivation art.
• After eating the treasure fish, Su Mu spent more than ten hours absorbing its energy and condensed his final divine treasure, completing the Transformation Spirit Five Treasures.
• Su Mu studied the fish bone and green leaf in an enlightened state for seven days and comprehended the Law of Space.
• Su Mu spent Favor Points to raise his River Affinity, Law of Space, Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Strength, and Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Art.
• Su Mu used one Favor Point for an ordinary draw and was astonished by the item he received.

Su Mu ate a piece of the White Kui Medicine King and broke through to the Second Tribulation Realm, then planted it to grow back. After waking, he spotted a ship approaching along the River of Time, while the Four Emperors had just reached the river and hoped to meet him again.

• Su Mu bit the White Kui Medicine King, cut off a small piece, and absorbed its medicinal power for a day.
• Su Mu broke through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm and advanced to the Second Tribulation Realm.
• Su Mu noticed the Medicine King healing itself and planted it beside his Stone House, then watered it and fell asleep beneath the willow tree.
• The Four Emperors found the River of Time and discussed whether the senior they had met before was still there.
• Su Mu woke and saw a Big Ship approaching along the river channel.

Su Mu encountered the four Emperors again as they sailed home, collected their crossing fee, and let them continue without offering a ride. After earning a windfall of Favor Points on his patrol, he found an unusual black mist on the river and froze at what it concealed.

• Bone Emperor warned the others that the Time Mist was rising, and Dark Emperor spotted Su Mu approaching across the river.
• The four Emperors greeted Su Mu, who recognized them and joked about their long-delayed coffin burial.
• The four Emperors paid Su Mu with Space Rings and said they were returning home after being lost for fifty thousand years.
• Su Mu offered to speed up their journey, but the four Emperors declined because they feared he might send them to the wrong time again.
• Su Mu cleared the river for their ship, received their solemn thanks, and earned Favor Points from the crossing and his patrol.
• Su Mu dispersed an unfamiliar black mist and froze when he saw what was inside.

Su Mu explored an eerie stone bridge covered in orderly streams of ants and found that they crawled out of the river. Before heading back, he noticed unusual Lycoris Radiata with a faint fragrance and tasted a petal, leaving its effects unknown.

• Su Mu touched the stone bridge and felt a chill that seemed to reach his soul.
• Su Mu crossed the bridge, observing ants that stopped at his finger and continued in orderly lines after he moved it.
• Su Mu found no homes on the far bank, rested, and traced the ants’ path from the river onto the bridge.
• Su Mu caught an ant, tasted it, and spat it out when its rotten-corpse stench filled his mouth.
• Su Mu noticed Lycoris Radiata with purple-tinged petals and an unusual fragrance, then plucked and ate a petal.

Su Mu discovered that Lycoris Radiata petals strengthened his soul’s origin and Divine Sense, then brought a plant home and prepared tea and sashimi. A crash from the riverbank interrupted his meal, and he stormed over with his Silver Dagger to investigate.

• Su Mu ate a Lycoris Radiata petal and felt his soul’s origin improve while his Divine Sense range grew to 2.1 kilometers.
• Su Mu uprooted two Lycoris Radiata plants, ate one, and carried the other to his Stone House.
• Su Mu planted the remaining Lycoris Radiata in his Vegetable Garden and found that his white radish had grown well.
• Su Mu prepared Lycoris Radiata tea, Treasure Silver Carp sashimi, and a piece of radish for his meal.
• A tremendous crash sounded from the riverbank, and Su Mu grabbed his Silver Dagger and headed there in anger.

Su Mu killed a crocodile that was ramming his newly repaired dam, while Ye Fan learned that the Primordial Crocodile Venerable had been slain by a mysterious sword. After returning to his afternoon tea, Su Mu noticed another figure approaching across the river on a bamboo pole.

• Su Mu attacked the crocodile ramming his dam and carried its corpse ashore.
• Two human experts reported the Primordial Crocodile Venerable’s attack on the World Wall to Ye Fan.
• Ye Fan learned the Primordial Crocodile Venerable had been killed and watched a recording of a silver sword piercing its skull.
• Ye Fan wondered if the unknown sword wielder was connected to his long-unpaid creditor, then left to handle the crisis.
• Su Mu returned to his tea, but a cicada sounded and a figure on a bamboo pole appeared on the river.

Su Mu encountered Fang Yuan on the River of Time after Fang Yuan used the Spring and Autumn Cicada to return to the past. Su Mu let him pass after accepting his promise to repay the River Crossing Fee, and Fang Yuan stopped to propose a deal.

• Fang Yuan realized the Spring and Autumn Cicada had brought him to the River of Time, where Su Mu approached him.
• Su Mu took Fang Yuan’s Spring and Autumn Cicada, then returned it and showed him a more powerful cicada he had casually plucked.
• Su Mu asked Fang Yuan’s name and demanded a River Crossing Fee, and Fang Yuan offered a lock of hair and promised to repay him.
• Su Mu trusted Fang Yuan’s promise, released the stillness blocking the river, and let him pass.
• Fang Yuan lingered, then asked Su Mu to make a deal with him.

Fang Yuan traded his future for one Spring and Autumn Cicada from Su Mu, who gave it to him and gained a huge system reward. After a nourishing meal advanced Su Mu to the Three Tribulations Realm, he began dissecting a crocodile and found something hard inside it.

• Fang Yuan offered to repay Su Mu with future treasures in exchange for a Spring and Autumn Cicada.
• Su Mu handed Fang Yuan the cicada he chose, and Fang Yuan rode away; the system awarded Su Mu 10,000 Favor Points.
• Su Mu ate tea, fish, and radish, then absorbed their energy and advanced to the Three Tribulations Realm.
• Su Mu examined the crocodile that had rammed his dam and identified it as a Treasure Crocodile after struggling to cut through its hide.
• Su Mu found an unusually hard object inside the crocodile and pulled it out, asking what it was.

Su Mu used the Fire Brazier to roast Treasure Crocodile meat and rapidly advanced to the Fourth Tribulation Realm. While gathering more Lycoris Radiata by the stone bridge, he spotted something unusual among the ants crossing it.

• Su Mu found an unquenchable Fire Brazier inside the Treasure Crocodile and discovered its flames warmed his dantian and body.
• Su Mu butchered the crocodile, received 5000 Favor Points for maintaining the River Channel Dam, and kept its hide, teeth, bones, and meat.
• Su Mu roasted crocodile meat with the Fire Brazier and ate it with Lycoris Radiata tea, cultivating between portions until he broke through to the Fourth Tribulation Realm.
• Su Mu found that the Lycoris Radiata in his Vegetable Garden had withered while the White Kui Medicine King thrived.
• Su Mu returned to the stone bridge, harvested five Lycoris Radiata plants, and noticed something unusual among the ants crossing it.

Su Mu found a golden Treasure Ant with potent venom and overwhelming strength, then tested it against a fish and his contracted Stone Yue Beast. After healing the badly injured Stone Yue Beast, he saw the Golden Ant grow even more afraid of him and heard a faint voice in his mind.

• Su Mu identified a large, rune-marked golden ant by its Lycoris Radiata scent and took it home to study.
• Su Mu tested the Golden Ant's bite on a blue fish, which rapidly turned black and gave off the aura of death.
• Su Mu ordered the Stone Yue Beast to attack the Golden Ant, but its pincers shattered twice while the ant remained unharmed.
• Su Mu spent 600 Favor Points to heal the severely injured Stone Yue Beast and stopped it from attacking again.
• The Golden Ant became more frightened after seeing Su Mu heal the Stone Yue Beast, and a faint voice sounded in his mind.

Su Mu contracted the Golden Ant, revealed as the Chaos Golden Spirit, and spent most of his new Favor Points raising his River Affinity. The next day, he rescued stranded river creatures in thickening fog before falling into the air and being caught by something.

• Su Mu contracted the Golden Ant, whose name appeared as Chaos Golden Spirit (Unreincarnated, No True Name), and received 8,000 Favor Points in feedback.
• Su Mu spent 30,000 Favor Points to raise his River Affinity from 0.4% to 0.7%.
• Su Mu checked his Fish Traps the next morning, found them empty, and earned Favor Points by helping stranded creatures along the riverbank.
• A thick fog disoriented Su Mu, who found and rescued more than a hundred stranded fish, turtles, and crabs.
• As Su Mu walked deeper into the fog, he tripped, fell through the air, and was caught by something.

Su Mu discovered a peach tree growing beside a waterfall, gathered its spirit peaches, and accidentally dropped one into the water. The fallen peach reached the Great Qin Dynasty, where a meteorite brought spiritual power into the world and prompted its emperor to pursue an immortal dynasty; unaware of this, Su Mu sensed something was wrong on his way back.

• Su Mu found a peach tree on the waterfall cliff, picked five peaches, and marked the tree before one fell into the waterfall.
• In Xianyang Palace, the Great Qin emperor swallowed another silver pill and reflected on his failed search for immortality.
• A meteor streaked across the sky and crashed to earth, after which the emperor sensed spiritual power in his dantian.
• An urgent report told the emperor that a meteorite had become a towering tree in the northern lands and that rare treasures had appeared there.
• The emperor ordered his troops to march north and resolved to cultivate immortality and establish an imperishable dynasty.
• Su Mu followed his trail markers back from the waterfall, unaware that the fallen peach had changed the Great Qin Dynasty, and suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

Su Mu found a poisoned stretch of river and saved the fish still alive, while a sword-cut boundary kept the pollution from spreading downstream. After releasing the fish near his Stone House and gaining 5,000 Favor Points, he ate a peach and began to experience an unexpected change.

• Su Mu followed a foul smell through the fog and found a blackened stretch of water covered with dead fish and shrimp.
• Su Mu rescued several fish with faint traces of life and discovered that a boundary had stopped the pollution from reaching downstream.
• Su Mu tried to purify the water without success, used his Water Control Mystical Power to hold it in place, and left an aura marker before heading home.
• Su Mu released the rescued fish into clean water and spent five Favor Points to revive the small fish, triggering a reward of 5,000 Favor Points.
• Su Mu ate a peach after preparing his body, and his body began to change.

Su Mu survived the Spirit Peach’s destructive energy and reached the Eight Tribulations realm. He helped the Golden Ant cross the stone bridge to the other shore, then turned back after sensing something near the bridge.

• The Spirit Peach repeatedly shattered and restored Su Mu’s body until its energy stabilized, giving him a second dantian and raising his cultivation to the Eight Tribulations realm.
• Su Mu discovered that the Golden Ant had protected him and learned it wanted his help crossing the stone bridge to go home.
• Su Mu carried the Golden Ant across the bridge, unknowingly allowing the crushed ants’ golden light to flow into it.
• The Golden Ant took the final step to the other shore on its own, looked back at Su Mu, and disappeared from sight.
• Su Mu picked two newly grown Lycoris Radiata, then sensed something and turned toward the stone bridge.