Chapter Summaries

Dog Cub repeatedly tried to change the youth’s doomed fate, eventually helping him live a long life with his father before he died peacefully at fifty. As the cycle reset, the youth’s phantom met Wangcai’s eyes and sent a glimmer of light into its Sea of Consciousness before the world shattered again.

• Dog Cub watched the youth repeatedly rise to prominence, only to die through calamities and encounters with immortal cultivators.
• After Dog Cub’s absence caused the youth to break his leg, the youth’s father stayed home and avoided the corvée that would have led to his death.
• The youth’s father took him to the Prefecture City, where the youth trained at a Martial Hall and later returned to Nanshan Town to live with his father.
• The youth opened a Martial Hall, married, and raised a family, while he and his father lived peacefully for decades.
• The youth died of old age at fifty, and his phantom appeared before the frail Wangcai as the world began to shatter.
• The youth’s phantom pointed at Wangcai and sent a glimmer of light into its Sea of Consciousness before the next cycle began.

Chu Mu witnessed the youth’s father and hundreds of thousands of Forced Laborers perish in Li Yun’s massacre, then let the youth take revenge with a Three Foot Blade. The youth killed Li Yun, while Chu Mu remained silent as the youth wept.

• Dog Cub watched the youth’s father leave with the Forced Laborers and did not interfere with the youth’s fate.
• The youth clung to his father and accompanied him to a Mountain Valley where hundreds of thousands of Forced Laborers gathered.
• Nanshan Li Yun unleashed his Ten Thousand Souls Banner, flooding the valley with ghostly qi and killing the gathered people.
• The youth recognized Chu Mu as his reflection and begged him to avenge his father; Chu Mu gave him a Three Foot Blade.
• The youth used the blade to destroy Li Yun and his banner, then wept as Chu Mu remained silent.

After escaping the layered mental illusions on Soul Cleansing Mountain, Chu Mu learned that three years had passed and realized Wangcai had helped him awaken. Yun Qianshan congratulated him and explained the rewards awaiting him, while Chu Mu worried that resolving his original body's obsession might require Nanshan Li Yun's life.

• Wangcai awoke and roused Chu Mu after the mountain's formations lifted, and Chu Mu discovered that three years had passed.
• Chu Mu thanked Wangcai for completing the original body's unfinished life and reflected that killing Nanshan Li Yun might have prevented the dangerous dual Mind Illusion.
• Yun Qianshan congratulated Chu Mu and said surviving the tribulation had strengthened his state of mind, making the Immortal Infant's inner-demon trial far easier.
• Yun Qianshan explained that Chu Mu could leave through the Teleportation Array at Little Nine Heavens Peak and claim three treasures and a true-transmission lineage.
• Chu Mu asked whether anyone else had succeeded, and Yun Qianshan said Chu Mu was the first from the Heavenly Palace while two beasts from the Demon Court had also cleansed their souls.

After purifying his soul, Chu Mu secluded himself to examine the gains from the calamity. He discovered that his divine soul had grown stronger and his Blade Intent had changed, with a new entry called “Dawn” appearing beneath Domain.

• Chu Mu dismissed the attendants and entered seclusion with Wangcai, who had gained about thirty percent in divine soul strength.
• Chu Mu told Wangcai to stabilize his divine soul and prepare to pursue a breakthrough to the third-order late stage.
• Chu Mu examined his own Sea of Consciousness and found that his divine soul had increased by nearly thirty percent.
• Chu Mu sensed that his Blade Intent had undergone a familiar mutation and summoned his divine soul blade to inspect it.
• Chu Mu checked the Light Screen Panel and found “Dawn” listed after Domain under Blade Intent.

Chu Mu discovered that his Divine Soul Blade had developed the Blade Intent divine ability "dawn," formed from the faith of all living beings. After considering the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast’s scheme and the limits imposed by its cage, he secluded himself to study the new ability, then left Mountain Valley nearly a year later.

• Chu Mu sensed strands of living beings’ faith around the Three Foot Blade and realized they had become a new Blade Intent divine ability called "dawn."
• Chu Mu compared the blade’s dawn with his Blade Domain and wondered whether the faith of all living beings could make it unmatched in attack.
• Chu Mu recalled how the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast had used layered spiritual illusions to ensnare him and worried it might try to keep him trapped.
• Chu Mu reasoned that the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast likely could not act freely while confined at Soul Cleansing Mountain, then sealed his room and began cultivating while Wangcai slept.
• Nearly a year later, Chu Mu emerged from seclusion and vanished into the mountain ranges.

Chu Mu questioned Yun Qianshan about the Dark Serpent Clan and the fate of Soul Cleansing Mountain’s prison before leaving through the Teleportation Hall. During the teleportation, he glimpsed the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast’s vast shadow, but a luminous net suppressed it before Chu Mu vanished into spatial turbulence.

• Chu Mu toasted Yun Qianshan and asked about the Dark Serpent Clan beasts that had cleansed their souls.
• Chu Mu questioned whether the prison sealing the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast could ever be left unguarded, and Yun Qianshan insisted Soul Cleansing Mountain would endure.
• Yun Qianshan suggested Chu Mu become the mountain’s Guardian Elder after forming his Nascent Soul, then saw him off at the Teleportation Hall.
• As Chu Mu teleported, his Divine Soul Blade sensed a vast shadow that overwhelmed him with terror, and he recognized it as the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast.
• Luminous lines spread across the shadow like a net and drove it away, after which Chu Mu was swept through spatial turbulence and disappeared.

Chu Mu awakened in an emerald spirit-liquid reservoir that preserved the bodies of Sky Palace cultivators, then reunited with Wangcai at Nine Heavens Peak. After passing through a gateway that admitted only humans, Chu Mu reached a jade plaza and discovered a hall named Primordial Origin.

• Chu Mu realized the emerald spirit liquid preserved the unconscious bodies of Sky Palace cultivators while their Divine Souls were away.
• Chu Mu followed his connection to Wangcai and met him above the waters, where a mountain divided the Sky Palace and Monster Beast reservoirs.
• Chu Mu and Wangcai climbed Nine Heavens Peak and watched a projection showing Wangcai among the silent Monster Beasts beneath the water.
• Chu Mu passed through the summit gateway, but it rejected Wangcai and his Qiankun Pouch after declaring that only the Human Race could enter.
• Chu Mu reached a jade plaza and identified the grand hall before him as Primordial Origin.

Chu Mu reached the Primordial Grand Hall and concluded that a force called “Heaven” sustained Soul Cleansing Mountain and the prison sealing the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast. After resisting the hall’s attempt to imprint faith upon his mind, he received the rank of Sky Palace First-Class Guest Elder and a white token.

• Chu Mu inspected the plaza and the ninety-nine steps, noting that the pristine surroundings seemed to be watched and untouched by time.
• Chu Mu reasoned that a “Heaven” connected to the Evil Shadow Stone could explain how the trial and the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast’s seal had endured.
• Chu Mu climbed the stairs and resisted the Primordial Grand Hall’s attempt to implant an imprint of faith in his mind with Spirit Radiance Blessing.
• The hall displayed Chu Mu’s trial results and granted him the position of Sky Palace First-Class Guest Elder, equivalent to an Inner Sect Disciple.
• A pristine white token shaped like an auspicious cloud appeared before Chu Mu.

Chu Mu suspected that the Sky Palace Cloud Compilation manipulated its disciples’ minds, so he accepted a Guest Elder Token instead of the imprint. He entered the Primordial Treasure Vault and began choosing rewards, finding that its treasures matched his needs and abilities.

• Chu Mu examined the Guest Elder Token and concluded that the Sky Palace Cloud Compilation might alter a person’s Original Self and explain the ancient disciples’ unusual kindness.
• Chu Mu used the token to open the grand hall and followed its guidance into the Primordial Treasure Vault.
• Chu Mu sensed a Heavenly Cloud Nascent Pill in the mist and stored it away as his first treasure.
• Chu Mu found a blade-intent art and a Fire Attribute cultivation technique but passed over both because they did not suit his current needs.
• Chu Mu continued through the vault, where compatible treasures appeared to match his cultivation, abilities, and possessions.

Chu Mu emerged from the trial ruins and discovered that its many illusory cycles had lasted only one year in the outside world. After nearly two years of recovering aboard his hidden flying boat, he saw Zhao Shuang and two others emerge alive from the trial realm.

• Chu Mu left the ruins with Wangcai and learned from his Azure Bird Puppets that only one year had passed outside.
• Chu Mu decided the ruins were too dangerous to enter again, concealed his flying boat, and stayed nearby to recover his Essence, Qi, and Spirit imbalance.
• Nearly two years later, Chu Mu's Compass detected activity, and two Azure Bird Puppets recorded three bloodied people appearing over the sea.
• Chu Mu saw that Zhao Shuang and the other two had survived the trial realm and called their return an unexpected delight.

Chu Mu learned that Zhao Shuang, Zhao Yu, and Xie Yu had endured nine lives of repeated death in a trial world before escaping with treasures from the Mind Enlightenment vault. Suspecting the trial’s despair and perseverance might weaken the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast, he examined the three for abnormalities.

• Chu Mu arrived by Flying Boat and ordered Zhao Shuang, Zhao Yu, and Xie Yu to record everything they had experienced in the ruins.
• Zhao Shuang’s Jade Slip revealed that she had entered a world without spiritual energy, where cultivators fought beasts, and died when the creatures overwhelmed a city.
• After dying, Zhao Shuang and the other cultivators reincarnated through successive worlds of despair until their ninth death ended in a hall where survivors could choose three treasures.
• Zhao Shuang, Zhao Yu, and Xie Yu presented their Jade Slips and chosen treasures to Chu Mu, whose account of their experiences resembled his Mind Illusion but followed controlled trial rules.
• Chu Mu considered whether despair and perseverance could weaken the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast, then bound the three and searched their bodies and souls for abnormalities.

Chu Mu discovered that the three survivors of the Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation had nearly exhausted their origins and learned that their treasures were the price paid to preserve their lives. Among the treasures, he found a Peace Palace Creation Pill and an incomplete Immortal Fetus Nirvana Pill formula that might address his own spiritual-root limitations, leaving him intrigued but aware that pursuing it would be extraordinarily dangerous and difficult.

• Chu Mu examined Zhao Shuang, Xie Yu, and their companion, determined that their origins and lifespans had been severely depleted by the Nine Lifetimes of Reincarnation, and explained that their treasures had bought their survival.
• Chu Mu invited the three to return with him to Hanhai and examined the nine treasures they had obtained.
• Chu Mu identified a Peace Palace Creation Pill, which was said to improve a fetus's foundation and aptitude, and an Immortal Fetus Nirvana Pill formula preserved on Immortal Cloud Spirit Paper.
• Chu Mu read the formula's account of a Heavenly Palace Nascent Soul elder who sought to reverse spiritual-root deficiencies by using people as materials, the world as a furnace, and an Immortal Fetus Golden Core tribulation as fire.
• Chu Mu considered whether the formula's method could help overcome his own spiritual-root limitations, but concluded that its incomplete and dangerous process would be extraordinarily difficult to carry out.

After reaching the Vast Ocean Cultivation Realm, Chu Mu discovered that the Vast Sea Alliance was attacking Qishan Marketplace, deep in Chen Family territory. As the marketplace fell, his concealed flying boat abducted a fleeing Foundation Establishment cultivator, leaving the battle’s outcome and Chu Mu’s intentions unresolved.

• Chu Mu arrived near the Qishan Islands and watched the Vast Sea Alliance assault Qishan Marketplace, which he recognized as a Chen Family stronghold.
• Zhao Shuang and the other two emerged aged and depleted, and Chu Mu returned their treasures while offering them Jade Dew Azure Frost Pills and a Jade Slip describing treasures that might restore their origins.
• Chu Mu observed that the attackers included a Golden Core Early Stage cultivator and wondered how the Vast Ocean Cultivation Realm had changed during his sixty years away.
• The Vast Sea Alliance breached Qishan Marketplace’s formation within two days and began massacring its cultivators.
• As the concealed flying boat passed over the marketplace, Chu Mu silently lifted a fleeing Foundation Establishment cultivator into the air, making him vanish from the battlefield.

Chu Mu learned through a soul search that the Blood Spirit Fruit had transformed the war between the Chen Family and the Vast Sea Alliance, leaving the Chen clans besieged and confined to a remote sea region. After realizing the fruit could guarantee a Bloodline Divine Ability, he considered what it might mean for Wangcai and the Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower.

• Chu Mu searched a Chen Family cultivator's soul and discovered that the Hanhai Chen Family and Jiaolong Chen Family had nearly lost their former domain to the Vast Sea Alliance and other factions.
• Chu Mu learned that the Vast Sea Alliance had revealed Blood Spirit Fruit could guarantee the awakening of a Bloodline Divine Ability and had auctioned both the fruits and their cultivation method.
• Chu Mu inferred that the Dark Serpent Clan had learned about the Blood Spirit Fruit earlier and had made peace with the Chen Family over it.
• Chu Mu looked toward Wangcai and considered the Blood Spirit Fruit's potential before storing the mind-destroyed cultivator's body in his Qiankun Pouch.

After returning to Red Cloud Island, Chu Mu found the True Understanding Pavilion thriving under the Vast Sea Alliance and reunited with Chang Er and Chang Hongyi. Chang Hongyi revealed that she had secretly formed a Golden Core and began telling Chu Mu what had happened during his decades away.

• Chu Mu listened in a tavern and learned that cultivators still hunted those with Jiaolong Bloodline for the Blood Spirit Fruit, while the Vast Sea Alliance had replaced the Chen Family’s rule on Red Cloud Island.
• Chu Mu entered the True Understanding Pavilion’s rear courtyard and found Chang Er tending the Spirit Planting Garden.
• Chang Hongyi arrived and revealed that she had formed an Immortal Fetus Golden Core during Chu Mu’s absence.
• Chang Hongyi gave Chu Mu a Storage Ring containing precious items and recounted the True Understanding Pavilion’s development over the years.

After reviewing sixty years of upheaval, Chu Mu learned that the Langya Wang Family had fallen while the Changping Zhao Family still resisted the Longevity Sect, leaving him uncertain about Li Yun’s fate. He took the Heavenly Cloud Nascent Nurturing Pill and began nurturing his Golden Core in seclusion as several more years passed.

• Chu Mu read dossiers describing the Heaven Bamboo Alliance’s rise, the destruction of the Langya Wang Family, and the Longevity Sect’s stalemate against the Changping Zhao Family.
• Chu Mu wondered whether Li Yun had survived in the southwest, the northeast, or nowhere, then summoned a messenger with a voice transmission.
• Chu Mu examined the Heavenly Cloud Nascent Nurturing Pill, a fourth-tier pill that nourished the Immortal Fetus and could improve the chance of forming a Nascent Soul.
• Chu Mu swallowed the pill and used his Divine Sense to guide its medicinal power into his Golden Core.
• Chu Mu kept his return to the True Understanding Pavilion secret, and several years passed as the Vast Ocean Cultivation Realm remained largely stable.

After advancing to the Golden Core Late Stage, Chu Mu tested insights from decades of wielding World Authority in his Mind Illusion by transforming the Spirit Planting Garden. The results convinced him that those insights could be applied to the immortal path, and he turned his attention to a rare spiritual material intended for the Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower.

• Chu Mu emerged from seclusion after the Heavenly Cloud Nascent Nurturing Pill helped him reach the Golden Core Late Stage and mature his Immortal Fetus Golden Core.
• Seeing Chang Er manage the Spirit Planting Garden, Chu Mu considered how a small past favor had changed Chang Er’s life and how his own actions had reshaped the Mind Illusion.
• Chu Mu used insights from controlling a world in the Mind Illusion to devise improvements to the Spirit Planting Garden, then spent ten days changing its operating rules.
• Chu Mu found that the illusory insights worked seamlessly in the real Spirit Planting Garden and considered how illusion and reality might be related.
• Chu Mu examined his Qiankun Pouch and brought out a Jade Box containing rare spiritual material he had planned to use to fuse the Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower.

Chu Mu decided to transform the Qiankun Pouch into a flawed Small World, using his insights into Heaven and Earth along with a Star Core Crystal, Spirit Seeds, and other rare materials. After months of planning and gathering supplies, he began reforging the pouch with Great Sun True Fire and artifact inscriptions.

• Chu Mu examined the Qiankun Pouch, Three Foot Blade, and Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower, then considered how a Star Core Crystal could help develop the pouch into a world.
• Chu Mu decided to start that gradual transformation with the Spirit Planting Garden and sent Chang Er to gather what he needed.
• Chu Mu spent nearly half a year drafting his plans while the True Understanding Pavilion collected spiritual materials from across the Vast Ocean Cultivation Realm.
• Chu Mu gathered the materials, including Spirit Seeds and the Star Core Crystal, and prepared a framework to expand the Qiankun World, awaken life, and stabilize its space.
• After resting for two days, Chu Mu began refining the Qiankun Pouch with crimson true fire, spiritual materials, artifact inscriptions, and array restrictions.

A year after leaving Crimson Clouds, Chu Mu traveled across the Vast Ocean Cultivation Realm while refining his understanding of Immortal Fetus Nirvana and expanding his Qiankun Pouch into a living small world. He recognized its potential as a weapon and a refuge, but concluded that fully developing it would require resources beyond what he could realistically obtain.

• Wangcai remained asleep aboard the Sky-Piercing Flying Boat as its cultivation steadily advanced from the divine soul it had received.
• Chu Mu studied and annotated his booklet on Immortal Fetus Nirvana, gaining further insight before deciding that only practice could resolve his remaining doubts.
• Chu Mu entered the Qiankun Space and inspected its expanded, thriving small world, where five Spirit Veins nourished spirit fields tended by Spirit Planting Puppets.
• Chu Mu considered using the Qiankun World’s authority to suppress cultivators below the Golden Core boundary and imagined its power eventually protecting his Dao in the outside world.
• Chu Mu judged that developing the small world further would demand immense resources and wondered what would happen to it if he ascended to the Upper Realm.

Chu Mu assessed the world-enhanced Spirit Planting Garden and absorbed its cultivation records before focusing on a route to confront Li Yun, the Ten Thousand Souls Real Person. His inherited obsession and killing intent briefly erupted, then he suppressed them and resolved to address the flaw in his heart.

• Chu Mu judged that the Spirit Planting Garden in the Qiankun Small Heaven and Earth could reliably grow thousand-year Spirit Herbs and surpass the garden in the True Understanding Pavilion.
• Chu Mu approached the Qiankun Heart and examined its World Authority and detailed cultivation data for more than a thousand Spirit Plants.
• Chu Mu studied a Sea Chart route spanning hundreds of thousands of li and identified Li Yun, a Golden Core Late Stage Guest Elder known as the Ten Thousand Souls Real Person, as its endpoint.
• Chu Mu's inherited obsession stirred into a burst of killing intent, startling Wangcai before Chu Mu suppressed it.
• Chu Mu recognized that the unresolved obsession had become his own flaw and continued studying the route toward Li Yun.