Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yang explained the River of Time’s laws, the Great Dao, and the life levels that determine one’s standing in the Six Great Sequences. He urged his followers to use the God-Refining Array to raise their status before he left for the Fourth Sequence.

• Zhang Yang taught his subordinates and disciples that rare resources shaped the Six Great Sequences and that laws and Daos governed the River of Time.
• Zhang Yang explained how Great Daos could merge into a Heavenly Dao or advance into a new law, using his younger cousin’s path to the Law of Immortality as an example.
• Zhang Yang described the different life levels, from projection life and data life to true-soul, true-spirit, and seed life.
• Zhang Yang revealed that his Three-Leaf True Spirit let him survive the God-Refining Array and that the violet flames he recovered were civilization kindling that could damage Cangdong Heavenly God’s urn.
• Zhang Yang warned He Yimou, Zhao Baiyi, Li Guokui, Tao Yao, and Qu Shang not to waste their chance to gain Three-Leaf True Spirit status through the God-Refining Array.
• Zhang Yang prepared to leave for the Fourth Sequence after the opportunity to refine the gods passed, intending to depart quietly after sending one last surprise.

Zhang Yang used the God-Refining Array to expose his disciples and subordinates to the Flame of Civilization, hoping they would comprehend powerful Grand Daos. His five direct disciples rapidly succeeded, and Zhang Yang bound their Grand Daos into cornerstones for the Heavenly Dao.

• Zhang Yang explained that the purple Flame of Civilization could drive the unprepared mad, and said his fifteen data-based subordinates needed to endure it to withstand the Ancient Law.
• Zhang Yang told He Yimou, Zhao Baiyi, Li Guokui, Tao Yao, and Qu Shang to comprehend Daos within the flame, explaining that each could retain one Grand Dao to strengthen their future prospects.
• Zhang Yang used the Boat of Death to retrieve purple fire from the God-Refining Array and divided it among the five disciples, whose comprehension far outpaced that of the five Destroyer Commanders and ten Forbidden Magic Knights.
• Tao Yao and Qu Shang comprehended Grand Daos first, followed shortly by He Yimou, Zhao Baiyi, and Li Guokui.
• Zhang Yang bound the five Grand Daos and used blades of grass from the Heavenly Dao Maiden to turn them into Grand Dao Cornerstones.
• The five disciples said they could continue, and Zhang Yang urged them to keep working.

Zhang Yang strengthened his Three-Leaf True Spirit by enduring the purple fire in the God-Refining Array and began compressing the fire into cakes to reduce the Boat of Death’s need for living sacrifices. His growing harvest finally drew Cangdong Heavenly God’s attention, leaving Zhang Yang confronted by the array’s creator.

• Zhang Yang’s five direct disciples contributed fifty-five complete Grand Daos and thousands of Daos, and he rewarded each of them with a hundred Two-Colored Spiritual Plants.
• Zhang Yang repeatedly entered the God-Refining Array and discovered that his Three-Leaf True Spirit grew stronger after purple fire burned part of it away.
• Zhang Yang learned to withstand the purple fire without Spirit Domain protection and began absorbing enough fire to make compressed Purple Fire Cakes.
• Zhang Yang found that ten Purple Fire Cakes could eliminate the Boat of Death’s annual living-sacrifice requirement, and his disciples resumed organizing Grand Daos.
• Cangdong Heavenly God noticed the rapidly diminishing purple fire, locked onto Zhang Yang, and accused him of ruining his good deed.

Zhang Yang was trapped inside the Spittoon Urn after Cangdong Heavenly God severed his connection to the Boat of Death. He used violet fire to suppress the Time Scraps and met Cangdong’s imprisoned true spirit, who taught him a method to strengthen his own.

• Cangdong Heavenly God trapped Zhang Yang’s true spirit in the Spittoon Urn with Mechanical Iron God Sand, cutting off his connection to the Boat of Death.
• Time Scraps began dissolving the sand and hurting Zhang Yang, so he released violet fire that suppressed them.
• Zhang Yang discovered that the Time Scraps inside the urn had formed a vast, strange ecosystem and that some still adhered to his true spirit.
• Cangdong’s imprisoned true spirit introduced himself and warned Zhang Yang that the Mechanical Iron Sand would eventually take over his true spirit.
• Cangdong taught Zhang Yang a True Spirit Tempering Method, and Zhang Yang found that it quickly strengthened his true spirit.

Zhang Yang prepared to use the Boat of Death to stop the Time Nightmare Demons from escaping, while Cangdong’s God-Refining Array began collapsing as its Civilization Arenas failed to supply enough Embers of Civilization. The Spittoon Urn broke free and killed Cangdong, then the Time Nightmare Demons were suddenly suppressed before Zhang Yang could become their savior.

• Cangdong warned Zhang Yang that the Time Nightmare Demons could devastate the Six Great Sequences, and the demons surged as Cangdong Heavenly God intensified the God-Refining Array.
• Zhang Yang considered using the Boat of Death to break the array while Cangdong waited for Embers of Civilization from five major Civilization Arenas.
• The Besieged City and Snow White pillars failed, and the Elder Scrolls and The Lord of the Rings arenas also failed to provide the expected support.
• The God-Refining Array collapsed, allowing the Spittoon Urn to break free and kill Cangdong.
• Zhang Yang decided to save the Fifth Sequence, but black light abruptly pinned down the Time Nightmare Demons and left him furious that his chance to be a savior had vanished.

While trapped in the great urn, Zhang Yang strengthened his True Spirit and waited as the crisis outside subsided. The Time Guardians arrived, rewarded civilizations for preventing a disaster, and offered Zhang Yang three choices concerning his Death Black Sail, leaving him to consider becoming an Apprentice Time Guardian.

• Zhang Yang continued tempering his True Spirit, suppressed ninety-eight grains of Mechanical Iron God Sand, and strengthened his connection with the Boat of Death.
• Three Guardians of the River of Time appeared and determined that the natives had unknowingly prevented a Time Tumor from exploding three hundred years earlier.
• The Guardians distributed ten rewards among Civilization Arena scenes, with The Lord of the Rings ranked first, The Elder Scrolls in the second tier, and Besieged City in the third.
• The Guardians examined Zhang Yang's past and offered him three choices: surrender the Death Black Sail for a Five-Leaf True Spirit reward, serve as a dark spy, or become an Apprentice Time Guardian.
• A silver-eyed Guardian explained that Zhang Yang could enter the Fourth and Fifth Sequences as an Apprentice Time Guardian, but would have to complete a Guardians Alliance mission every ten thousand years; Zhang Yang asked whether he needed to establish an organization.

Zhang Yang bound the Stellar Imprint and became an Apprentice Time Guardian, gaining a Four-Leaf True Spirit and a million years of life span. He learned that the faction faced a staggering death rate and left the great urn resolved to stick to his original plans.

• Zhang Yang chose to join the Time Guardians rather than accept the other options.
• The shadow within the cloak gave Zhang Yang the Stellar Imprint and warned him that binding it would make him a Guardian of the River of Time with no way to withdraw.
• Zhang Yang bound the Stellar Imprint, advanced to a Four-Leaf True Spirit, and received an initial reward of one million years of life span.
• The silver-eyed man warned Zhang Yang that Apprentice Time Guardians had a ninety-seven percent death rate every ten thousand years and said no apprentice had become a true Guardian in ninety million years.
• Zhang Yang learned that the Guardians were an understaffed faction and that the great urn was an anomalous space used to transport and smuggle Time Scraps.
• The three Time Guardians left with Cangdong, and Zhang Yang passed out of the great urn and decided to resume farming, building, and raising the Heavenly Dao.

After returning from three centuries trapped in the great urn, Zhang Yang found the Heavenly Dao Maiden’s world transformed into a Wood Demon stronghold that had seized most of her authority. He welcomed the Wood Demons’ military potential, ordered his followers to defend Azure Dragon City without harming them, and planned to rebuild the Heavenly Sword Clan while keeping the Wood Demon Clan under control.

• Zhang Yang returned to the Thorn Continent after three hundred years and released Azure Dragon City, whose human and demon population had survived at around three million through annual sacrifices.
• The Wood Demons attacked Azure Dragon City, and the Heavenly Dao Maiden told Zhang Yang that the clan had become difficult to restrain and had taken nearly three-fifths of her authority.
• Zhang Yang ordered He Yimou and Zhao Baiyi to stop the Wood Demons without killing many of them, renamed Azure Dragon City Heavenly Sword City, and told the Heavenly Dao Maiden to protect her remaining authority.
• Zhang Yang examined the Wood Demon Clan and found twelve specialized types, including Wood Demon Kings, mobile fighters, flying units, and logistical forms.
• Zhang Yang recognized the Wood Demon Clan as a powerful civilization and decided it could still be brought under his control.

Zhang Yang seized control of Heavenly Sword City and incorporated its human and demon population into the Heavenly Dao. He then gave the Heavenly Dao Maiden 105 Great Daos, triggering a vast transformation of the continent and leaving the Wood Demon Kings bound as pillars supporting the new world.

• Zhang Yang ordered five Destroyer Commanders and ten Forbidden Magic Knights to break through the Wood Demons' defenses and force the Wood Demon King to surrender its authority over the Heavenly Dao.
• Zhang Yang moved Heavenly Sword City into a cleared area and instructed the Heavenly Dao Maiden to establish a barrier for humans, demons, and young Wood Demons.
• The Heavenly Dao Maiden absorbed the city's three million residents into its authority and began generating Innate Dao Rhyme, but Zhang Yang stopped her from giving them too many benefits.
• Zhang Yang gave the Heavenly Dao Maiden 105 Great Daos, causing the barrier to expand to a radius of one hundred thousand kilometers as the heavens and earth began to transform.
• The Heavenly Dao Maiden turned three Wood Demon Kings into pillars supporting the sky and used their bodies as a framework while the Great Daos formed the land and completed the world.

Zhang Yang met the Apprentice Time Guardians of the Abyss, Land, and Firmament, who told him he had to leave the Fifth Sequence to avoid drawing the Ancient Gods’ attention. He agreed to head for the Fourth Sequence after they helped prepare Wood Demon Warriors, and the chapter left him anxious about the journey and the danger of revealing his identity.

• Zhang Yang decided that he still intended to establish a base in the Fourth Sequence rather than rely on the Fifth Sequence.
• Mist, Dream King, and Orange Cat confronted Zhang Yang, explained that two Apprentice Time Guardians in one dimension could attract their enemies’ attention, and offered terms for his departure.
• Dream King disappeared after the others explained that she was the Dream Law Heavenly God, while Mist and Orange Cat offered Zhang Yang help and a smuggling route into the Fourth Sequence.
• Zhang Yang agreed to leave once his Wood Demon Warriors had evolved, and specified their growth, hibernation, resistance, and combat requirements.
• Mist promised to prepare the Wood Demons within thirty years, and Orange Cat agreed to cultivate six kinds and carry Zhang Yang’s Mechanical Iron God Sands and War Banner to his little cousin.
• After Orange Cat departed, Zhang Yang worried about entering the Fourth Sequence and resolved to avoid exposing his identity as an Apprentice Time Guardian.

After receiving the Dream Spirits, Zhang Yang learned why they guarded dreams and was guided into a carefully protected dream before entering the Fourth Sequence. The Dream Guardian Captain found his dreams untainted but could find no record of his cousin Mu Shaoan.

• Zhang Yang infused the ten thousand units of Cosmic Law into the leyline veins and met the Dream Spirit Captain, who explained the Dream Guardians' role in defending living beings from Nightmare Wind Messengers.
• The Dream Spirit Captain insisted Zhang Yang construct and guard a dream before entering the Fourth Sequence, and he agreed to fall asleep under her guidance.
• In the dream, the Dream Spirit Captain reported that Zhang Yang's dreams had never been contaminated and that he was missing from the Dream Guardians' records.
• Zhang Yang explained that he routinely gave himself powerful Soul Tremors, astonishing the Dream Spirit Captain.
• Zhang Yang asked the Dream Spirit Captain to search for Mu Shaoan, but she found no such person in the records.

Zhang Yang prepared for a low-profile journey to the Fourth Sequence, assessing his resources and the extraordinary potential of his disciples. He decided to build a reserve of sword cultivators while keeping his ambitions and forces concealed.

• Zhang Yang planned to travel alone to the Fourth Sequence, keeping everyone else aboard the Boat of Death and relying on Wood Demon Warriors to avoid leaving clues.
• Zhang Yang calculated his available war resources and estimated that, with Orange Cat and Abyss Mist's promised support, he could mobilize up to five hundred thousand units of Cosmic Law.
• Zhang Yang reflected that He Yimou, Zhao Baiyi, Li Guokui, Tao Yao, and Qu Shang had each gained a Three-Leaf True Spirit and two Great Daos despite remaining at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
• Zhang Yang ordered the Heavenly Dao Little Girl to have Matchmaker select potential sword cultivators across several races and arrange five generations of reproduction to cultivate sword-cultivator talent.
• Zhang Yang decided to reincarnate ten more core personal disciples to train future generations, while reminding himself to keep a low profile in the Fourth Sequence.

After twenty-nine years of completing dream defenses and advancing cultivation projects, Zhang Yang received an unexpectedly large force of dead Antivirus Hunters from Crab. Heavenly Dao Little Girl revealed that the 13,500 soldiers were powerful heroic spirits with exceptional cultivation potential, and Zhang Yang began planning to train them.

• Zhang Yang woke from a dream and reviewed the Matchmaker Project and Heavenly Dao Little Girl’s Spiritual Plant cultivation progress.
• A transport aircraft arrived carrying Butcher, 13,500 dead Antivirus Hunters, and tens of thousands of their relatives.
• Zhang Yang complained that Crab had sent far more people than requested, then accepted a note saying Crab owed them and left their fate to him.
• Heavenly Dao Little Girl explained that the soldiers’ united spirits and battle-forged souls made them heroic spirits suited to the Great Dao of War and sword cultivation.
• Zhang Yang realized the soldiers could become powerful True Spirits and celebrated their potential before stopping himself from boasting aloud.

Zhang Yang used all nine Innate Sword-Hiding Earth Veins and one hundred thousand units of Cosmic Law to refine Butcher and the thirteen thousand five hundred heroes into sleeping sword embryos. He left them prepared to awaken as powerful innate sword cultivators, but learned Orange Cat would not repay the cost unless Zhang Yang set out for the Fourth Sequence.

• Zhang Yang brought Butcher and the thirteen thousand five hundred heroes to the Heavenly Sword Clan’s nine Innate Sword-Hiding Earth Veins.
• Zhang Yang ordered He Yimou to open the formation, and Innate Sword Qi fused with the heroes’ killing aura, refining it into pure sword intent.
• Zhang Yang ordered the process to continue after He Yimou reported that one-third of the reserved Innate Sword Qi had been consumed.
• The nine earth veins ran out of Innate Sword Qi, leaving Butcher and the others stored in smooth, colorless sword embryos that Zhang Yang planned to let sleep before reincarnating them.
• Zhang Yang asked Orange Cat’s subordinate for the promised one hundred thousand units of Cosmic Law, but the subordinate refused unless Zhang Yang prepared to set out for the Fourth Sequence.
• Zhang Yang cursed Orange Cat for withholding the payment, though he was told he could take the Wood Demon Warrior seeds whenever he wished.

Zhang Yang engineered and carefully managed a prolonged war among the human, Demon, and Wood Demon races to keep the world’s resources above the safety line and prevent humanity from becoming dominant before he reached the Fourth Sequence. After activating five kinds of Wood Demon Warriors, he stabilized the conflict along a controlled boundary.

• Zhang Yang learned that the world’s dwindling resources could collapse its Heavenly Dao Barrier, fracture its earth veins, and expose it to deadly forces, so he followed the Heavenly Dao Maiden’s suggestion and provoked a three-race war.
• The Wood Demon race invaded the humans, who allied with the Demon Race, but a Demon Race leader betrayed them; the resulting fifteen-year war consumed resources until they reached the safety line.
• Zhang Yang activated Fortress Wood Demons and Shield Wall Wood Demons to protect the weakened Wood Demon race, while the Demon Race surrendered to the humans and the human race expanded.
• Zhang Yang activated Mountain-Opening Wood Demons and Ballista Wood Demons, shifting the war’s balance and cooling the human armies’ thirst for revenge.
• Zhang Yang planted one hundred Life Wood Demons along the human-Wood Demon boundary and ordered the Wood Demons to attack humans who crossed it but not pursue those who withdrew.

Zhang Yang rejected Sky Cat and Abyss Mist’s travel arrangement and prepared to take his realm into the Fourth Sequence aboard the Boat of Death. He departed for the ruins of the Azure Nether Realm, leaving the Orange Cat and Abyss Mist to realize they had missed their chance to follow.

• Zhang Yang refused the envoys’ offer to launch him into the Fourth Sequence with a slingshot and sent them away.
• Heavenly Dao reported that the realm’s people, resources, and defenses had been prepared for the journey and its sacrifices.
• Zhang Yang merged the Death Black Sail with the Small Mud Boat, brought the realm aboard, and sacrificed thirty thousand Mountain-Opening Wood Demons.
• Zhang Yang set the Boat of Death’s destination near the ruins of the Azure Nether Realm and departed from the void.
• The Orange Cat and Abyss Mist discovered that Zhang Yang had taken his entire realm away and regretted learning of it too late.

Zhang Yang traveled toward the Fourth Sequence aboard the Boat of Death and learned how his Apprentice Time Guardian authority worked, including its limited time reserves and dangerous mission requirements. When Time Pirates blocked his route with a powerful chain, he fled and left their true strength uncertain.

• Zhang Yang crossed through the gray fog aboard the Boat of Death, protected from it by his Stellar Imprint.
• As the boat neared the Fourth Sequence, Zhang Yang's Apprentice Time Guardian authority awakened and revealed a reserve of time that could be spent to accomplish almost anything within the Six Great Sequences.
• Zhang Yang learned that he could replenish his spent time only through rare River of Time missions or after serving a million years, and decided to avoid missions until he was stronger.
• A horn sounded, and Zhang Yang activated the Boat of Death's concealment as a chain emerged from the fog and blocked his path.
• The Stellar Imprint warned Zhang Yang of danger, so he turned the boat away from the chain, which trembled like a fisherman's net.

Zhang Yang sacrificed three hundred thousand Wood Demon Warriors and spent 24 minutes and 24 seconds to upgrade the Boat of Death, which devoured the time chain and gained new abilities. He became its Death First Mate but resolved not to invest in it again, despite the title of Death Captain awaiting further upgrades.

• Zhang Yang learned that collecting the time chain would take 240 years, while escaping it would take 24 minutes.
• Zhang Yang ordered Heaven's Will to sacrifice all three hundred thousand Wood Demon Warriors to the Boat of Death.
• Zhang Yang spent 24 minutes and 24 seconds upgrading the Boat of Death, which transformed into a void monster and snapped the time chain into three sections.
• The Boat of Death permanently fused with a section of the chain, gained new traits, and named Zhang Yang its Death First Mate.
• Zhang Yang decided not to upgrade the Boat of Death again because he feared its costs and sacrifices.

Zhang Yang and the Boat of Death reached the Fourth Sequence, where its rules recognized him and his crew but annihilated most life in his world. After arranging what remained, Zhang Yang headed alone to the Azure Nether Realm ruins to investigate a divine prohibition.

• The Fourth Sequence's rules accepted Zhang Yang, the Boat of Death's crew, and the Heavenly Dao Little Girl, while most beings in Zhang Yang's world died and the world shrank to 0.1 grid.
• Zhang Yang activated the revival plan, left Wood Demon Warrior seeds with the Heavenly Dao Little Girl, and ordered the crew to stay aboard the Boat of Death.
• Zhang Yang piloted the Boat of Death to the Azure Nether Realm ruins, activated super stealth and the Death Chain's random-fishing trait, then jumped overboard with a Death Anchor.
• Zhang Yang used the Stellar Imprint to make a divine prohibition temporarily ineffective as he entered the ruins, with ten minutes to escape before its protection wore off.

Zhang Yang entered the Divine Prohibition to reach the Azure Nether Immortal Sword and learned how Heavenly God Chang Ji had claimed it after invading the Azure Nether Realm. He left the sword where it was for now and began observing the Thousand-Handed Race, hoping to learn their law seals.

• Zhang Yang used the Stellar Imprint and the Azure Nether Immortal Sword's guidance to cross the Divine Prohibition, barely escaping its deadly effects.
• Zhang Yang reunited with the Azure Nether Immortal Sword and learned that Heavenly God Chang Ji had sealed it away to claim the Azure Nether Realm's household registration after a thousand years.
• Zhang Yang moved through the desolate area, avoiding Chang Ji's patrols and learning that the Thousand-Hand Divine Seal Legion had destroyed the Heavenly Sword Clan's mountain gate.
• Zhang Yang watched a demigod Thousand-Handed person form law seals and recognized the race as the source of the sword seals He Yimou, Zhao Baiyi, Li Guokui, Tao Yao, and Qu Shang had learned.
• Zhang Yang decided to study the Thousand-Handed Race's law seals before attempting to retrieve the Azure Nether Immortal Sword.