Chapter Summaries

Heavenly Pivot True Lord and Heavenly River True Lord founded the Rebel-Suppression Alliance to hunt the Returnees across the Hongmeng Universe. A squad of twenty-five True Lords then cornered a weary female Returnee who commanded the dao of earth.

• Heavenly Pivot True Lord urged nearly a hundred Da Luo True Lords to unite against the Returnees, citing their recent defeats and the Green-Robed Man’s growing group.
• Heavenly River True Lord dismissed the Returnees as weakened outsiders but agreed to take the initiative and declared the Rebel-Suppression Alliance established.
• Heavenly River True Lord and Heavenly Pivot True Lord became alliance leaders, and the alliance announced hunting squads and rewards for information and participation.
• In a Northern Territory asteroid belt, twenty-five Da Luo True Lords surrounded a female Returnee who commanded the dao of earth.
• The female Returnee opened her eyes to face her pursuers without fear, though she was exhausted from a long flight.

Zhou Ming and his companions found Houtu trapped by twenty-five cultivators of the Rebel-Suppression Alliance and on the verge of defeat. Zhou Ming appeared in time to erase their combined attack with one punch, then charged into their ranks.

• Zhou Ming detected Houtu’s hidden refuge in the Northern Territory after his companions worried she might already be dead.
• Zhou Ming revealed Houtu surrounded by twenty-five great arrays, where she had endured attacks for thirty thousand years.
• True Lord Ku Rong demanded that Houtu hand over True Saint Yuan Chu’s Inheritance, but she refused and prepared to burn her Origin against their final attack.
• Zhou Ming appeared before Houtu and dissolved the twenty-five cultivators’ combined strike with one punch.
• Zhou Ming charged at the cultivators, who recognized the Green-Robed Man and tried to retreat.

Zhou Ming and his companions rescued Houtu, helped her recover, and set out to find their other captured comrades. They walked into a Rebel-Suppression Alliance ambush in the Mystic Light Star Domain, but Zhou Ming’s brief reply to the informant True Lord Duobao suggested the attackers had already lost.

• Zhou Ming crushed True Lord Ku Rong and helped Hongchu, Cang Xuan, and Taichu rout the twenty-five cultivators besieging Houtu.
• Zhou Ming gave Houtu their accumulated fortune and shared his method for using it to loosen her rule shackles, allowing her to recover much of her strength.
• Houtu and the others resolved to recover their strength and search for Pangu, Taiyi, and their other captured Eternal Dao Realm comrades.
• Zhou Ming and his four companions entered the Rebel-Suppression Alliance’s trap in the Mystic Light Star Domain, where sixty-five Da Luo True Realm cultivators surrounded them.
• True Lord Duobao sent Zhou Ming a warning about the ambush, but Zhou Ming replied, "Too late," as distress messages from the alliance began pouring in.

Zhou Ming and his ten companions turned the Rebel-Suppression Alliance’s hunt against its members by raiding their sanctums and draining their fortune. The retaliation shook the alliance and left Heavenly River True Lord facing furious accusations from its leaders.

• After seeing reports of Zhou Ming’s overwhelming strength, True Lord Duobao withdrew his payment demand and offered him free intelligence as an apology.
• Over tens of thousands of years, Zhou Ming’s group rescued six more Eternal Dao Realm experts, grew to eleven, and repeatedly defeated the alliance’s pursuers while recovering their strength.
• When the group realized the alliance’s growing numbers made escape and fortune-gathering unsustainable, Zhou Ming proposed raiding the sanctums of anyone who hunted them.
• Within decades, Zhou Ming’s group drained fortune from the domains of nine Rebel-Suppression Alliance leaders, leaving their victims unharmed but humiliated.
• At the alliance headquarters, the nine victims and other members blamed Heavenly River True Lord for urging the campaign against the Returnees.

Heavenly River True Lord faced the angry leaders whose homes Zhou Ming had raided and persuaded them to continue the fight. He proposed trapping the Green-Robed Man in a deadly formation and detonating his own law origin, and the other True Lords agreed to join him.

• Chaotic Ancient True Lord and the Lord of Ten Thousand Buddhas confronted Heavenly River True Lord over their losses and the lack of the promised opportunity.
• Heavenly River True Lord reminded the gathered True Lords that they had committed themselves to killing the Green-Robed Man and could no longer retreat safely.
• Heavenly River True Lord proposed summoning cultivators across the Hongmeng Universe and laying an unprecedented Heaven-Locking Absolute-Land Slaying Formation to force a decisive battle.
• Heavenly River True Lord vowed to detonate his law origin to gravely wound the Green-Robed Man and secure the Yuan Chu True Saint inheritance.
• Chaotic Ancient True Lord and the other True Lords agreed to the plan, driven by greed for the inheritance.

After nearly a thousand years of secluded cultivation, Zhou Ming shattered the Hongmeng Universe’s Rule Shackles and regained his full Unity Realm power, stronger than before. He chose to wait for news of the Rebel-Suppression Alliance’s next trap, and True Lord Duobao’s message reached him.

• Zhou Ming’s fortune overwhelmed the final Rule Shackle, awakening his Dao of Strength and restoring him to the Unity Realm.
• Hongchu, Cang Xuan, Taichu, Houtu, and the other cultivators were blasted back by Zhou Ming’s newly released power, then celebrated his return.
• Hongchu urged Zhou Ming to attack the Rebel-Suppression Alliance, but Zhou Ming said they should wait for his enemies to set a trap.
• True Lord Duobao sent Zhou Ming a flattering mental message through the Chaos.

True Lord Duobao warned Zhou Ming that the Rebel-Suppression Alliance had assembled 110 Da Luo cultivators, a deadly formation, and Heavenly River True Lord’s planned self-detonation at the World-Severing Abyss. Zhou Ming chose to confront them, and he and his ten companions entered the prepared trap as the alliance activated its formation.

• True Lord Duobao told Zhou Ming that 110 Da Luo cultivators had gathered at the World-Severing Abyss and that Heavenly River True Lord planned to detonate his Law Origin.
• Cang Xuan, Taichu, Hongchu, and the others debated whether to avoid the dangerous ambush, but Zhou Ming argued that destroying the Rebel-Suppression Alliance at its gathered stronghold was their chance to end the threat.
• Zhou Ming and his ten companions agreed to fight and flew openly through the Chaos toward the World-Severing Abyss.
• Heavenly River True Lord and the 110 hidden cultivators watched Zhou Ming’s group enter the Ten Thousand Dao Heaven-Extinguishing Formation.
• Heavenly River True Lord activated the formation, sealing Zhou Ming and his companions inside its vast curtain of light.

Heavenly River True Lord detonated his Great Dao origin to destroy Zhou Ming, but Zhou Ming emerged completely unharmed. Zhou Ming then turned his attention to the weakened Heavenly River True Lord and declared that his turn had come.

• Heavenly River True Lord activated the Ten Thousand Dao Heaven-Extinguishing Formation and ordered ten Dao-Fusion Peak cultivators to pin Zhou Ming in place.
• Hongchu, Cang Xuan, Taichu, Houtu, and the others fought off the incoming True Artifacts as the formation’s laws converged on them.
• Heavenly River True Lord detonated his Great Dao origin, erasing the World-Severing Abyss and devastating the surrounding chaos.
• The ten Dao-Fusion Peak cultivators retreated with grievous injuries and waited to see whether Zhou Ming had survived.
• Zhou Ming stood unharmed at the heart of the explosion while Heavenly River True Lord’s aura fell to the early stage of Dao Fusion.
• Zhou Ming looked down at Heavenly River True Lord and said it was his turn.

Zhou Ming revealed his Unity Realm strength and moved to erase Heavenly River True Lord, but Chaotic Ancient True Lord and the other surviving experts sacrificed their origins and Great Luo True Artifacts to open an escape passage. The Rebel-Suppression Alliance fled the World-Severing Abyss, leaving it effectively destroyed.

• Zhou Ming's Unity Realm strength terrified the Rebel-Suppression Alliance cultivators, and Heavenly Pivot True Lord realized their plan had been doomed from the start.
• Zhou Ming appeared before Heavenly River True Lord and pressed down with a force that began annihilating his Great Dao.
• Chaotic Ancient True Lord sacrificed much of his Great Dao Origin and joined the other Dao-Fusion Peak experts in detonating nine Great Luo True Artifacts to tear open a passage through the World-Severing Abyss.
• Chaotic Ancient True Lord grabbed Heavenly River True Lord and led the surviving alliance leaders into the escape passage as the Da Luo True Lords fled after them.
• Hongchu, Cang Xuan, Taichu, Houtu, and the others watched the retreat, while Zhou Ming let the alliance escape, satisfied that it could no longer threaten him.

News of Zhou Ming’s effortless victory over the Rebel-Suppression Alliance spread throughout the Hongmeng Universe, revealing him as a Unity Realm cultivator and driving the alliance’s surviving members into hiding. Though Zhou Ming and his companions celebrated, he feared the defeated cultivators would endanger Pangu, Taiyi, Taisu, Taiji, and the missing Eternal Dao Realm fellow Daoists by seeking help from secluded Unity Realm cultivators.

• Word spread across the Hongmeng Universe that Zhou Ming had survived Heavenly River True Lord’s self-detonation and the Myriad Dao Heaven-Severing formation, exposing him as a Unity Realm cultivator.
• Chaotic Ancient True Lord lamented that Heavenly River True Lord had led him into disaster after he burned his Origin to save him at the World-Severing Abyss.
• The Lord of Ten Thousand Buddhas regretted his greed and wrath, while the Da Luo True Realm cultivators who had joined the Rebel-Suppression Alliance withdrew in fear.
• Hongchu mocked the fleeing alliance cultivators as Zhou Ming’s companions celebrated their victory.
• Zhou Ming worried that the defeated alliance would seek help from secluded Unity Realm cultivators and threaten Pangu, Taiyi, Taisu, Taiji, and the missing Eternal Dao Realm fellow Daoists.

After the battle at the Realm-Severing Abyss, Zhou Ming proposed using the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub’s people as bait to draw danger away from the scattered Returnees. He planned to spread a claim about their inheritance and True Saint rewards, but said they needed a trusted middleman to make the story believable.

• Hongchu celebrated the defeat of the Rebel-Suppression Alliance, while Houtu worried about the scattered Returnees being targeted.
• Cang Xuan and Qian Ling agreed that they could not find and protect every isolated fellow Daoist across the vast Hongmeng Universe.
• Zhou Ming suggested redirecting the enemy’s greed toward the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub members who had exposed their identities.
• Zhou Ming proposed claiming that Jiemie and his people had taken Yuan Chu True Saint’s inheritance and that more than a hundred Fusion Dao Realm cultivators had received True Saint insights.
• Houtu and Taichu questioned how anyone would believe the claim, and Zhou Ming said they needed a trusted middleman.

True Lord Duobao accepted Zhou Ming’s offer to spread a secret about the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub’s cultivators and Yuan Chu True Saint’s legacy. He advertised the information to his clients, setting a storm of pursuit across the Hongmeng Universe in motion.

• True Lord Duobao celebrated Zhou Ming’s victory at World-Severing Abyss and felt relieved that he had offended neither Zhou Ming nor the Rebel-Suppression Alliance.
• Zhou Ming contacted True Lord Duobao and offered him two supreme-grade Great Luo True Artifacts for a transaction.
• Zhou Ming sent True Lord Duobao intelligence claiming Jiemie and others had taken Yuan Chu True Saint’s Dao Fruit and legacy, while over a hundred Abyssal Sea Divine Hub cultivators had received insights into reaching the True Saint realm.
• True Lord Duobao agreed to circulate the information throughout the Hongmeng Universe within five years and accepted the two artifacts as payment.
• True Lord Duobao sent his clients an advertisement offering the exclusive intelligence in exchange for one supreme-grade Great Luo True Artifact.

A report claiming that the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub cultivators had received True Saint insights spread through the Hongmeng Universe, stirring powerful Da Luo True Realm figures to hunt them. True Lord Qingmu was cultivating in his sanctuary when seven such powerhouses arrived to demand his opportunity.

• Chaotic Ancient True Lord read True Lord Duobao’s report, grew enraged and greedy, and ordered his followers to find every Abyssal Sea Divine Hub cultivator.
• The Lord of Ten Thousand Buddhas studied a star map of suspected hiding places and issued an edict to head west.
• Da Luo True Realm powerhouses across the Hongmeng Universe changed course to pursue the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub cultivators.
• True Lord Qingmu cultivated beneath a divine tree, using True Saint insight to strengthen his Law of Wood.
• Seven Da Luo True Realm powerhouses appeared outside True Lord Qingmu’s sanctuary and demanded instruction in his opportunity.

True Lord Qingmu was attacked by seven Da Luo True Realm cultivators seeking the True Saint’s insights and escaped only by burning his Great Dao origin. Across the Hongmeng Universe, widespread hunts for the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub’s members left more than thirty wounded and fleeing.

• True Lord Golden Spears led six cultivators to True Lord Qingmu’s sanctum, citing information from True Lord Duobao and demanding the True Saint’s insights.
• The seven cultivators broke Qingmu’s protective formation and attacked him, eventually leaving him gravely wounded.
• True Lord Qingmu burned his Great Dao origin and used the Wood-Release Secret Art to escape, while True Lord Golden Spears ordered the others to spread news of his injuries and pursue him.
• Twelve Da Luo True Realm cultivators attacked True Lord Blood River in his lair, forcing him to sacrifice part of his origin and flee.
• Greedy cultivators across the Hongmeng Universe hunted Abyssal Sea Divine Hub members, driving more than thirty of them from their sanctums with severe injuries.
• The instigator of the chaos lounged in an unnamed cave abode as Hongchu boasted.

After thousands of years of pursuit, the wounded Abyssal Sea Divine Hub cultivators sought refuge with the five Unity Realm experts. The experts suspected Zhou Ming and the Eternal Dao Realm had orchestrated the hunt, but Jiemie questioned whether the survivors were hiding something.

• The hunted cultivators fled to the Daoist grounds of Jiemie, Kongxuan, Wuwang, Xu Yuan, and Blood Butcher for help.
• True Lord Qingmu reached Jiemie's Daoist grounds and reported that the Hongmeng Universe was hunting them.
• Jiemie summoned Kongxuan, Wuwang, Xu Yuan, and Blood Butcher, and Qingmu recounted how the pursuit began after demands for the True Saint's insights.
• Blood Butcher accused Zhou Ming and the Eternal Dao Realm of leaking the secret and diverting the attacks onto them.
• Jiemie looked at the injured cultivators and asked whether they were still hiding something.

True Lord Shi Gu confessed that he had falsely told an old friend in the Hongmeng Universe that Zhou Ming and his companions possessed Yuan Chu True Saint’s legacy, triggering the crisis around the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub. Jiemie struck Shi Gu unconscious, but the others realized the exposure could not be undone and their peaceful cultivation was over.

• Jiemie noticed True Lord Shi Gu’s guilty fear and ordered him to explain himself.
• True Lord Shi Gu admitted that he had spread a false message to make Zhou Ming and his companions suffer.
• Jiemie called Shi Gu a fool, slapped him into the ice wall, and condemned his actions.
• Kongxuan, Xu Yuan, Blood Butcher, and Wuwang realized that Zhou Ming had returned their own scheme against them.
• Blood Butcher suggested killing Shi Gu, but Jiemie said it would not erase the danger or restore their former lives.

Jiemie and the other Unity Realm experts failed to stop the hunts against the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub by denying they possessed True Saint insights, leaving them occupied rescuing their companions. Zhou Ming’s group learned that Taishi had been spotted in the Chaotic Void Star Sea and set out together to find him.

• Jiemie ordered Shi Gu confined and joined the other four Unity Realm experts in issuing a declaration that they had no True Saint insights.
• Chaotic Ancient True Lord and Heavenly River True Lord dismissed the declaration as proof that the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub was hiding treasures, and the hunts against its isolated members intensified.
• Jiemie and the others repeatedly rescued their besieged companions, then rejected revealing the Comprehension Orbs and chose to keep saving whoever they could.
• Zhou Ming’s group discussed the turmoil and decided to search for their missing companions while the hunters were distracted.
• Zhou Ming received word from True Lord Duobao that Taishi had been encountered in the Chaotic Void Star Sea, and the group set out together to rescue him.

Zhou Ming and ten companions traveled to the Chaotic Void Star Sea to find Taishi, then confirmed that seven Da Luo True Realm cultivators had cornered him. As Taishi prepared to fight them over a supposed True Saint inheritance, Zhou Ming and the others arrived.

• Zhou Ming and his companions discussed using the lull in the hunt for the Returnees to search for their fellow Daoists, and Duobao warned them that seven cultivators were probing Taishi.
• Zhou Ming cautioned the group against rushing into a possible trap, then scouted the Chaotic Void Star Sea and confirmed Taishi was surrounded by seven enemies but found no nearby ambush.
• Zhou Ming summoned Cang Xuan and the others, and they chose to observe Taishi's condition before intervening.
• True Lord Xuanlin demanded that Taishi surrender a portion of the supposed True Saint Yuan Chu inheritance, while Taishi insisted the rumors were false.
• True Lord Xuanlin and six companions formed a net of Laws to attack Taishi, who unleashed his Taishi Qi as eleven figures emerged from a void rift.

Zhou Ming rescued Taishi from True Lord Xuanlin’s forces with a single devastating punch, then learned that many Eternal Dao Realm cultivators were still missing. After Taishi recovered, the group decided to search the Hongmeng Universe for their scattered fellow Daoists.

• True Lord Xuanlin tried to make Zhou Ming and his companions stand aside, but Zhou Ming struck him and six other Da Luo True Realm cultivators with one punch, forcing them to flee.
• Zhou Ming reunited with Taishi and explained that the group had spread a false rumor about a True Saint inheritance to divert their enemies’ attention.
• Taishi learned that Zhou Ming’s group had found only twelve of the more than one hundred cultivators who left the Eternal Dao Realm, while Pangu and the others remained missing.
• Several months later, after Taishi recovered, Zhou Ming proposed that they stop hiding and search for their scattered fellow Daoists while their enemies focused on the Abyssal Sea Divine Hub.
• The group agreed to split into several search parties, with Zhou Ming staying at the center to provide support.

Zhou Ming and the others devised a coded message and rendezvous to find their scattered fellow Daoists, then split up to search the Hongmeng Universe. Three months later, the message had spread widely, though most recipients dismissed it as meaningless.

• Zhou Ming proposed using a phrase known only to those from Yuan Chu’s inner world to draw the scattered cultivators out, and the group chose Pangu’s sentence, “When Chaos first opened, the Great Dao was one.”
• The group selected the Desolate Star Sea as their rendezvous and hired True Lord Duobao to circulate the phrase as secret information in exchange for a mid-grade Great Luo True Artifact.
• Zhou Ming assigned Cang Xuan, Taichu, Houtu, Hongchu, Taishi, and Qian Ling to search different regions while he stayed behind to guard the rendezvous and set up a detection formation.
• Three months later, the phrase had reached cultivators across the Hongmeng Universe, but most recipients dismissed it as a pointless Dao maxim.