Chapter Summaries

After the demonic calamity, Qin He learned that the Void-Domain Interlayer had grown increasingly active as the camp restored its defenses. Qin Zhenggang revealed that a badly wounded High God demon had retreated into the Abyss, confirming the passage worked both ways.

• Qin Zhenggang ordered the squad to finish purifying the remaining demonic corpses, and Qin He burned two without incident.
• The corpse-burning ground was cleaned and repaired, while reinforcements arrived and the Central Army Camp returned to a tense calm.
• Qin Zhenggang grew more appreciative of Qin He and invited him to a private gathering with the squad.
• Qin He asked whether demons could retreat into the interlayer after emerging and being defeated.
• Qin Zhenggang recounted how a wounded High God demon had escaped back into the Abyss, confirming demons could return inside.

Qin He studied the Inner Layer’s restrictions while waiting for a chance to infiltrate it. When the Corpse-Burning Squad was ordered to retrieve dangerous Aberrant Corpses, he saw the assignment as an opportunity to get inside and investigate.

• Qin He quietly observed the Inner Layer’s formations and deduced that its power had subtly altered the surrounding world.
• Two Inner Layer cultivators ordered the Corpse-Burning Squad to retrieve corpses within one hour.
• Qin Zhenggang warned the squad that the corpses were likely Aberrant Corpses and instructed everyone to avoid contact with them.
• Qin He urged the squad to depart promptly, hiding his eagerness to inspect the Inner Layer’s restrictions.
• Qin Zhenggang prepared the squad, and they headed for the entrance to the Inner Layer.

Qin Zhenggang and his team entered a silent clearing filled with dangerous red mist to investigate a corpse that had become impossibly heavy and grown blood-colored hair. After their Corpse-Locking Chain barely moved it, the six cultivators began dragging it inch by inch out of the pit.

• Qin Zhenggang warned everyone to shield themselves from the red mist, which could cause mutation and distort spiritual power.
• Two Inner Layer soldiers explained that the mist had appeared overnight and that anyone approaching the corpse began growing blood-colored hair.
• Qin Zhenggang found the corpse hovering over a crushed pit, covered in red hair and surrounded by warped space.
• The team wrapped the corpse with a Corpse-Locking Chain, but their first attempts to pull it failed because it was anchored by immense force.
• Qin Zhenggang and six team members combined their strength, moved the corpse one inch, and began dragging it beyond the edge of the pit.

The Corpse-Locking Chain snapped while the group tried to move the aberrant corpse, forcing Qin Zhenggang to use a Corpse-Suppressing Jade Seal. As the seal descended, the corpse began to resist, while Qin He quietly watched the damaged restrictions for an opportunity to advance toward the core area.

• The group pulled the aberrant corpse beyond the deep pit, but it stopped moving and broke the Corpse-Locking Chain.
• The corpse remained motionless as the group debated retreating or trying another chain, and Qin He secretly studied flaws in the surrounding restrictions.
• Qin Zhenggang retrieved a Corpse-Suppressing Jade Seal and ordered the others to guard the area while he tried to confine the corpse.
• The seal's light curtain descended and dissolved the red mist, prompting the aberrant corpse to raise its hair and violently churn the space around it.

Qin Zhenggang used the imitation Rebirth Seal to suppress the Aberrant Corpse and lead the squad back to the Corpse-Burning Camp. The corpse was locked inside the Evil-Sealing Chamber with Qin Zhenggang and Qin He, where they prepared to burn it.

• Qin He recognized the crimson jade seal as an imitation Rebirth Seal after Qin Zhenggang used it to immobilize the Aberrant Corpse.
• Qin Zhenggang ordered Qin He to control the fire while the squad rebound the corpse and dragged it toward the Corpse-Burning Camp.
• The squad returned to the camp and carried the suppressed Aberrant Corpse into the Evil-Sealing Chamber.
• Qin Zhenggang ordered the stone door sealed, leaving only himself and Qin He inside with the corpse.

Qin He and Qin Zhenggang struggled to suppress the aberrant corpse, whose crushing pressure nearly overwhelmed them. The Rebirth Seal revealed the corpse’s past and ended the pressure, leaving Qin He to cleanse it with lotus flame.

• Qin He pinned the corpse with seven Soul Capturing Nails and layered Corpse Suppressing Talismans over it while Qin Zhenggang held the Rebirth Seal above it.
• The corpse burst free with crushing pressure that injured Qin Zhenggang and strained Qin He’s golden body saint physique.
• Qin He poured yang fire power into the Replica Rebirth Seal, whose expanded light revealed the corpse’s life as a frontier defender who sealed a formation gate before becoming an aberrant corpse.
• The Rebirth Seal’s radiance drove away the pressure, and the nails and talisman formation left the corpse unable to struggle.
• Qin He cleansed the corpse with lotus flame, burning away its inverse-path tainted energy as Qin Zhenggang thanked him for wielding the Rebirth Seal.

Qin Zhenggang and Qin He finished suppressing the aberrant corpse, but the effort destroyed Qin Zhenggang’s Replica Rebirth Seal. Qin He received the broken seal to study and sensed lingering distortions in the void around the Baleful Suppression Foundation Stone.

• The Lotus Flame and the chamber’s restraints burned away the aberrant corpse until it crumbled into white ash.
• Qin Zhenggang retrieved his cracked Replica Rebirth Seal and explained that it was modeled on an ancient divine artifact called the Rebirth Seal.
• Qin Zhenggang told Qin He that the Divine Court issued replica seals to Corpse-Burning Squads and praised Qin He’s unusual mastery of the Corpse Dao.
• Qin He asked to borrow the broken seal, and Qin Zhenggang gave it to him.
• Qin He sensed that distortions from the Interlayer Inverse Path still lingered around the Baleful Suppression Foundation Stone.

Qin He received the Gravity Technique after learning of Cangyang’s centuries-long vigil and final sacrifice at the Returning Ruins Defense Line. He tested the art’s hidden control over gravity and realized it could help him overcome the interlayer’s suppression and restrain monsters.

• The shadow-play recounted how Cangyang, born on the Returning Ruins Defense Line, refused repeated offers to leave and guarded the ruins for more than two hundred years.
• During a third-level demonic calamity, Cangyang sealed the checkpoint’s formation gate with his life, holding back monsters and protecting the camps behind him.
• The Black Robed Man judged Cangyang’s sacrifice, and Qin He received the Gravity Technique as his reward.
• Qin He quietly activated the Gravity Technique and found he could alter the downward pull within a small area without visible signs.
• Qin He recognized the art could counter the void domain’s suppression and potentially shackle enemies by reversing gravity.
• Qin Zhenggang gathered Cangyang’s remaining bone ash and mourned the senior border guard’s death.

After the Aberrant Corpse was destroyed, Qin He returned to his tent and mastered his new Gravity Technique. Examining the damaged Rebirth Seal, he discovered its connection to the Reincarnation Law and began meditating on its Dao Resonance.

• Qin Zheng declared the Aberrant Corpse purged, ordered a report and a replacement Rebirth Seal Replica, and warned Qin He to check himself for lingering harm.
• Qin He returned to his tent, sealed it against outside disturbances, and tested his new Gravity Technique until he could control it at will.
• Qin He examined the damaged Rebirth Seal and perceived that it carried the Reincarnation Law.
• Qin He entered deep meditation and absorbed the Reincarnation Dao Resonance, gradually adding its mysteries to his foundation.

Qin He spent months studying the Inner Layer’s restrictions and waiting for a major demonic calamity, while his three avatars pursued separate tasks. As his Lin Yan avatar approached the Ape-Shaped Ancient Corpse for the ninth time, he ignored the Jade Tablet’s highest-level danger warning and gazed at it with wonder.

• Qin He observed three major demonic calamities and mapped weaknesses in the Inner Layer’s restrictions, but found no proof that demonic creatures could return through the rifts.
• Qin He kept one Central Army Camp avatar studying Dao and restrictions while another gathered intelligence, and his Lin Yan avatar became an experienced scout in the Left Army Camp.
• Qin He entered the deserted stretch of void for the ninth time and approached the Ape-Shaped Ancient Corpse.
• Qin He saw the Jade Tablet turn scarlet with a highest-level danger alert but remained beneath the ancient corpse, admiring it.

Qin He searched for a weakness in the seals surrounding the ancient ape corpse but found the Void Domain’s restrictions uniform and impossible to breach. After an unseen killing intent forced him to use a Lucky Doll, he wondered whether he would have to perform Corpse Purification on the remains.

• Qin He circled the Ape-Shaped Ancient Corpse and probed the Void Domain for a flaw in its restraints.
• A lethal killing intent engulfed Qin He, but he escaped by turning ethereal and leaving an afterimage in its place.
• Qin He’s Lucky Doll shattered after substituting for his life, and he recognized the danger as an unavoidable punishment tied to the sealed Void Domain.
• Qin He cautiously searched the region again but found no weak point in its uniform restrictions.
• Qin He wondered whether he had to perform Corpse Purification on the ancient corpse.

Qin He realized Corpse Purification might calm the will lingering in the Ancient Ape Corpse, so he searched for something to restore its damaged remains. He found and returned the corpse’s missing right claw, confirming his approach as the Forbidden Void’s oppressive force began to loosen.

• Qin He reasoned that Corpse Purification could honor the Ancient Ape Corpse’s lingering will where attacks and restrictions had failed.
• Qin He sent insubstantial clones through the ruins to search for material to repair the corpse’s wounds.
• Qin He discovered a giant claw whose scales and bones matched the Ancient Ape Corpse’s missing right claw.
• Qin He carefully lifted the claw and watched the Eternal Seal’s barriers open a passage for it.
• Qin He aligned the claw with the corpse’s severed limb, and it reattached as the Ancient Ape Corpse shuddered and the Void Domain’s force eased.

Qin He searched the Void Domain for the Ancient Giant Ape’s missing remains, restoring its skull and replacing the unrecoverable wounds with carefully carved Jianmu. When the corpse was fully restored, a sigh echoed from within it, leaving the story at the moment the ancient body stirred with an unknown presence.

• Qin He sent out ethereal clones to search the Void Domain for the Ancient Giant Ape’s scattered remains.
• Qin He found a skull fragment and joined it to the ape’s broken skull, but found no remains to fill its chest and abdomen wounds.
• Qin He discovered an ancient Jianmu pillar in the ruins and carved two inserts to match the ape’s missing body sections.
• Qin He fitted the Jianmu inserts into the ape’s chest and abdomen, and their patterns merged seamlessly with the corpse.
• The Forbidden Void fell silent, and a weary, distant sigh sounded from within the restored giant ape.

Qin He spoke with the ancient ape’s remnant thought and learned that the Returning Ruins Forbidden Domain had once been the Immortal Court. The ape revealed that the Immortal Court was destroyed by the Dao, leaving Qin He with the cause of its fall but no further details.

• Qin He held back his Lotus Flame and asked the ancient voice if it still possessed consciousness.
• The ancient ape identified itself as a remnant thought tethered to old memories and asked what era it was.
• Qin He told the ancient ape that the Divine Court ruled the world, and it said it had never heard of the Divine Court.
• Qin He asked what great battle had devastated the Void Domain, and the ancient ape revealed that the place had once been the Immortal Court.
• Qin He asked when and why the Immortal Court was destroyed, and the ancient ape answered that it was destroyed by the Dao.

Qin He learned that the Ancient Immortal Court fell in a great sundering caused by different Daos, then heard the Ancient Ape describe a masked burialist who may have been a Remnant Immortal. After Qin He asked about whale fall, a thunderous force struck the Forbidden Void, suggesting their conversation had triggered heavenly secrets.

• The Ancient Ape told Qin He that the Ancient Immortal Court had perished in a great sundering caused by different Daos, but fell silent when he asked what had caused it.
• The Ancient Ape said Qin He resembled an obsessive burialist who had sworn to bury the Sea of Realms and was rumored to be a Remnant Immortal.
• Qin He connected the burialist's mask and verses to the Black Robed Man and asked the Ancient Ape whether it had heard of whale fall.
• The Ancient Ape recalled that the fish that dried up the sea had come ashore and become a giant whale, while the Sea of Realms still existed and a will might remain above the unseen.
• A tremendous roar shook the Forbidden Void, ignited ancient formations, and struck Qin He, sending him flying hundreds of miles as he coughed blood.

Qin He was hurled through the Void Domain as the forbidden region’s opening unleashed a backlash that plunged the Returning Ruins into chaos. Left Army elites reached the burning ancient ape corpse, found no culprit, and awaited a High God’s decision while searching for traces.

• The backlash from the forbidden Void Domain smashed through Qin He’s barrier and sent him flying hundreds of miles.
• Heaven-and-earth pressure spread through the Returning Ruins, suppressing cultivators and disrupting the Heavenly Secrets Lineage.
• The three border garrisons sounded their horns and mobilized forces to investigate the anomaly.
• Several thousand Left Army elites reached the forbidden zone and found the ancient ape corpse engulfed in flames.
• A commander ordered the fire left untouched pending the High God’s decision and directed a search of the surrounding five hundred miles, focusing on where Qin He had stood.

The Left Army’s cultivators watched a mysterious gold-and-black flame consume the Ancient Era ape corpse while a Fire God Hall Saint Tier expert examined it. The commander-in-chief ordered a wider search for the flame’s origin and told the rest to guard the site until the High God arrived.

• A Fire God Hall cultivator identified the blaze as an unprecedented fusion of Demon Flames and Alchemical Flame with a chaotic nature.
• The Fire God Hall cultivator tried to collect a wisp of flame, but it evaded him and repelled his fire net as if it were alive.
• The Fire God Hall cultivator discovered that the corpse’s protective seal remained intact, prompting speculation that the corpse had ignited by itself.
• The commander-in-chief ordered the Left Army to expand its search for suspicious traces while the remaining cultivators guarded the flames and awaited the High God.

Qin He returned to camp after delivering military intelligence and concealed his involvement in the Ancient Ape corpse’s destruction while listening to rumors about it. He stayed in his tent to heal, expecting the corpse to have nearly burned away.

• Qin He explained his delayed return to the duty officer, collected his assignment reward, and was told to remain in camp awaiting orders.
• Zhao Yan and Li Lie told Qin He that a High God from the Divine Punishment Department had entered the Forbidden Void to investigate the burning Ancient Ape corpse.
• Qin He heard the camp’s theories about the mysterious fire and hid his knowledge of the pressure that had injured him.
• Zhao Yan warned Qin He that inspections had tightened, and he and Li Lie soon left to avoid attracting suspicion.
• Qin He activated his tent’s soundproofing array and examined his injuries, deciding to stay in and recover.

Qin He witnessed a Shadow Play revealing the Void Ancient Ape general’s life and the fall of the Ancient Immortal Court, though an unseen force erased much of the truth. The performance ended with Qin He receiving the Shattered Mirror reward.

• Qin He saw the Void Ancient Ape’s life unfold in a Shadow Play, beginning with its birth near the end of the Mythological Era.
• The ape traveled with its tribe, fought for the Immortal Court, and became one of the South Heaven Gate’s Four Great Valiant Generals.
• The Great Sundering began, and Burialists appeared amid the ruins as the war devastated the Immortal Court.
• The South Heaven Gate fell, and the ape general was pierced by three blades of order and bound into eternal slumber.
• The Black Robed Man recited the ape’s history, the Shadow Play ended, and Qin He realized an unseen force had erased key memories.
• Qin He received the Shattered Mirror reward.

Qin He examined the Shattered Mirror, a fragment of the South Heaven Gate that carried the primordial aura of space, and realized he had obtained traces of two of the three Supreme Laws. He concealed the fragment and decided to wait for the next demonic chaos before cremating more ancient corpses.

• A silver thread descended onto Qin He's palm, revealing the Shattered Mirror fragment from the South Heaven Gate.
• Qin He sensed the fragment's vast spatial depths and understood that the South Heaven Gate had been a teleportation formation linking distant parts of the void.
• Qin He recognized that he possessed traces of Reincarnation and space, while he still had no clue about time.
• Qin He considered searching the Returning Ruins for more ancient corpses, but restrained himself because the High God was active and any disturbance could draw attention.
• Qin He wrapped the fragment in coarse cloth to suppress its fluctuations and stored it away.
• After recalling the recent losses from demonic chaos in the Central Army Camp, Qin He planned to recover for a few days and cremate corpses when the next outbreak began.