Chapter Summaries

Ba Zunan revealed that his daughter was August and recounted how Yue Gongli’s warning about Moon Palace Slave had distracted him during his duel with Hua Changdeng. Dao Qiongchang then laid out how Yue Gongli’s actions had served a vast succession scheme, leaving Xu Xiaoshou and the others stunned by the role one message had played in Ba Zunan’s defeat.

• Ba Zunan revealed that he had a daughter named August, and Cao Erzhu recognized her as the woman who had once helped him.
• Ba Zunan explained that he had ignored a threatening letter and fought Hua Changdeng, despite receiving a Heavenly Secrets Art message that Moon Palace Slave was in trouble.
• Yue Gongli had rushed to tell Ba Zunan that his sister was being taken to Cold Prison, disrupting Ba Zunan’s focus during the duel.
• Dao Qiongchang argued that Yue Gongli had benefited from the resulting defeat because his sister’s removal could make him the Moon Clan’s heir and give him influence over Ba Zunan and Hua Changdeng.
• Dao Qiongchang described how he could have used the aftermath to weaken rival clans and build his own reputation, then reenacted the message that had drawn Ba Zunan away.

Dao Qiongchang exposed Yue Gongli’s motives and used his fear of being killed to force him into begging Xu Xiaoshou for protection. As Ba Zunan departed, he advised Dao Qiongchang to return Cao Erzhu’s body, and Dao Qiongchang declared he would remain loyal only to himself rather than become a Holy Emperor descendant.

• Yue Gongli denied wanting the Holy Emperor position, but Dao Qiongchang argued that refusing it let him build a reputation while keeping his options open.
• Dao Qiongchang’s words and Cao Erzhu’s suggestion led Yue Gongli to kneel and plead for mercy, fearing that attacking Dao Qiongchang would let him be killed without consequence.
• Ba Zunan refused to take Yue Gongli with him and told him to rely on Xu Xiaoshou, who considered killing Yue Gongli before deciding against it.
• Yue Gongli warned Xu Xiaoshou that Dao Qiongchang was selfish and would become a greater threat if Yue Gongli were killed.
• Dao Qiongchang asked Ba Zunan for advice, and Ba Zunan told him to return Cao Erzhu’s body.
• Dao Qiongchang said he would not become a Holy Emperor descendant, extracted himself from Cao Erzhu’s body, and declared that he was loyal only to himself.

Xu Xiaoshou reunited Cao Erzhu and Yue Gongli with their bodies, but Shen Yi remained bound to Er Zhu’s soul. As the group prepared to leave, Dao Qiongchang reflected on how the Loss hexagram had benefited him, while Xu Xiaoshou sensed he had forgotten something and suddenly remembered it.

• Yue Gongli thanked Xu Xiaoshou and Dao Qiongchang for sparing him, and Dao Qiongchang rebuilt Yue’s physical body while pressuring him to accept a handkerchief.
• Xu Xiaoshou discovered Shen Yi’s soul intertwined with Cao Erzhu’s and learned Shen Yi could not leave Er Zhu’s body after using Self-Sacrifice.
• Dao Qiongchang suggested linking their souls so Er Zhu could use Shen Yi’s energy to reconnect with his body, and Xu Xiaoshou followed his instructions despite suspecting a trap.
• Xu Xiaoshou healed Er Zhu and reunited Yue Gongli and Cao Erzhu with their bodies, though he could not recall what he had forgotten.
• Dao Qiongchang considered how his losses had benefited him, while Xu Xiaoshou prepared to open the tree door, then suddenly remembered something.

Xu Xiaoshou restored the Relics of the Gods’ passage rules, and Dao Qiongchang tested them by making thousands of entrants slit their throats and return to the Holy Spirit Continent, where Liu Guifen gained the Dao Ancestor’s Legacy. Xu Xiaoshou suspected Jinren had also killed himself and decided to summon an external incarnation to search for him.

• Dao Qiongchang told Xu Xiaoshou to restore the Guiding Great Path to its original two-way passage rules, and Xu Xiaoshou used the Heavenly Realm Core to do so.
• Dao Qiongchang killed 3,762 people inside the Relics of the Gods by handing them daggers and ordering them to slit their throats, sending them back to their previous locations.
• Liu Guifen returned to his cave with a blood-bound dagger, activated the Dao Ancestor’s Legacy, and received a gift pack of treasures and contribution points.
• Liu Guifen accepted a mission to infiltrate Crossroads Corner and become Lord of North Street, then prepared to head to the City of the Dead Futu.
• Dao Qiongchang told Xu Xiaoshou that the entrants had likely returned to where they came from, and Xu Xiaoshou concluded that Jinren might have committed suicide.
• Xu Xiaoshou decided to summon an external incarnation to travel with Dao Qiongchang to the Southern Domain and try to contact him.

Xu Xiaoshou arranged to feign death and have Dao Qiongchang smuggle his body out of the Relics of the Gods, then demanded the return of the souls Dao had collected. Dao returned several fragments but refused to hand over Bai Zhou, leaving their bargain at an impasse.

• Xu Xiaoshou created a new Jinren and explained how feigning death could make him seem like a low-spirituality item, allowing Dao Qiongchang to carry him out of the Relics of the Gods.
• Jinren died by reducing his body, soul, and consciousness nearly to nothing, and Xu Xiaoshou folded his paper-thin body into a spatial ring for Dao Qiongchang to carry.
• Xu Xiaoshou confronted Dao Qiongchang and demanded the return of his master and the other souls he had taken.
• Dao Qiongchang returned soul fragments belonging to Elder Sang, Water Ghost, Cen Qiaofu, Feng Yujin, and others, while Xu Xiaoshou silently accepted them.
• When Xu Xiaoshou asked for Bai Zhou, Dao Qiongchang refused and told him he had crossed the line.

Dao Qiongchang exposed Bai Zhou as the Scale-White Witch and sealed him and the witch within layers of imprisonment in his River of Memory. He left them frozen and revealed his plan to use their fate to test Five Declines of Heaven and Man and potentially make him an incarnation of himself.

• Second Generation explained the roles of the different generations of Dao Qiongchang and revealed that he handled combat while Third Generation operated in the world.
• Third Generation identified Bai Zhou as the Scale-White Witch and explained how he had suspected Bai Zhou’s hidden Voodoo Body from his strength and recovery.
• Bai Zhou and the Scale-White Witch unleashed their Voodoo Power, but Second Generation imprisoned them and sealed the array disc within Dao Qiongchang’s memories.
• Dao Qiongchang offered Bai Zhou several possible fates and discussed using the Scale-White Witch and a weakened Sealing Body to test Five Declines of Heaven and Man.
• The Scale-White Witch tried to attack Dao Qiongchang, but he froze the serpent spirit within the memory and declared that Bai Zhou had never had a choice.

Xu Xiaoshou and Dao Qiongchang negotiated over Bai Zhou, and Dao Qiongchang explained that he wanted Bai Zhou’s Scale-White Witch and Voodoo Body abilities. Xu Xiaoshou gave Bai Zhou to him, then opened the tree gate and let Yue Gongli and Dao Qiongchang leave the Relics of the Gods, ending with Dao Qiongchang affirming that they were still friends.

• Dao Qiongchang laid out the gains and contributions he and Xu Xiaoshou had made, then argued that he wanted Bai Zhou because of the Scale-White Witch and Voodoo Body within him.
• Dao Qiongchang warned Xu Xiaoshou that the Grey Palace of the Xu Moon’s alliance was based on profit, and recalled that Red Robes Shouye had once tried to recruit Xu as his successor.
• Xu Xiaoshou sent the pebble representing Bai Zhou to Dao Qiongchang, agreeing to let him take Bai Zhou after Dao Qiongchang explained his request.
• Xu Xiaoshou opened the tree gate, and Yue Gongli entered it to return home after exchanging farewells with Xu Xiaoshou and Dao Qiongchang.
• Dao Qiongchang prepared to leave with Xu Xiaoshou’s external incarnation, and Xu asked whether he remembered what Xu had said earlier.
• Dao Qiongchang entered the tree gate after answering yes, and told Xu Xiaoshou that they would still be friends after leaving.

Cao Erzhu and the Pavilion Master parted while Master Shou remained in meditation, and Wind Clan City buzzed with anticipation for the Seven Sword Immortals rankings. Xiao Wanfeng watched the battles and tried to avoid trouble, but a strange man pursued him into a dark alley and used the Great God Descent Technique.

• Cao Erzhu spoke with the Pavilion Master, who vanished before Master Shou woke, and Cao Erzhu began cultivating beside him.
• Xiao Wanfeng made his way through Wind Clan City as crowds gathered before the Seven Sword Immortals rankings were released and watched replays of Bei Bei losing to Sword Immortal Lai and Gu Qing'er.
• Xiao Wanfeng waited to watch Xiao Qixiu's small-platform match and thought about Feng Xiaose's disappearance after fighting the Moonless Sword Immortal.
• A middle-aged man in a star-patterned robe asked to buy Xiao Wanfeng's sword case and whatever it had once contained, but Xiao Wanfeng insisted it was empty and fled.
• The strange man appeared at the far end of an alley, knelt, and used the Great God Descent Technique, so Xiao Wanfeng turned and ran.

Dao Qiongchang returned to the Holy Spirit Continent and intercepted Xiao Wanfeng, recognizing his connection to Xuancang and offering him a Heavenly Secrets Ring and a place in the Sword Division. Just as Dao Qiongchang hurried away, a ring shattered and a vortex opened, from which a shriveled human skin emerged.

• Dao Qiongchang caught Xiao Wanfeng as he tried to flee and questioned him about Xuancang and his ties to Xu Xiaoshou and Ba Zunan.
• Dao Qiongchang examined Xiao Wanfeng's empty sword box, replaced it with an identical one, and showed him a drawing of the Heavenly Net Battles.
• Dao Qiongchang gave Xiao Wanfeng a thought-linked Heavenly Secrets Ring and invited him to lead the Sword Division alongside him.
• Dao Qiongchang and Xiao Wanfeng drew their swords together, with Dao Qiongchang declaring that none under heaven could match them.
• Dao Qiongchang told Xiao Wanfeng to forget their meeting and keep the ring, then tried to leave when a spatial ring shattered and a vortex produced a wriggling sheet of shriveled human skin.

Xu Xiaoshou used his Transcendent Dao Transformation Will Dao Disk to guide Dao Qiongchang into misreading Jinren’s escape, then created an intent clone to guard the recovering group. He left the Relics of the Gods through the tree door, intending to swap places with Jinren and pursue a public spectacle.

• Dao Qiongchang realized Xu Xiaoshou had guided him after Jinren emerged from the sealed spatial ring.
• Jinren gave Xiao Wanfeng two rings leading to the Apricot Realm and the Relics of the Gods, warned him about Dao Qiongchang’s mark, and sent him to find Lord Li.
• Xu Xiaoshou revealed that he had used layered intent guidance to distract Dao Qiongchang and let Jinren escape.
• Xu Xiaoshou restored Elder Sang and the others as best he could, then made an intent clone to watch over them and Cao Erzhu.
• Xu Xiaoshou rejected Dao Qiongchang’s covert approach and decided to leave his true body behind while Jinren cultivated in the Relics of the Gods.
• Xu Xiaoshou summoned the tree door, activated World-Apart Independence, and stepped out.

Holy Spirit Hall received Yue Gongli’s warning to retreat from Xu Xiaoshou, but the assembled Half-Saints forgot what they were discussing as a strange force erased their focus. Xu Xiaoshou returned to Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain unseen by most, while Ai Cangsheng sensed his presence and nocked an arrow.

• Xi Cheng reported that Yue Gongli had returned but was unwell and would not join the battle, angering Qin Duan and Qiu Gu.
• Ai Cangsheng read Yue Gongli’s warning to retreat, avoid fighting on Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain, and spare everyone except Ai Cangsheng and Fish Elder from the battle.
• Xi Cheng explained that Fish Elder was still searching for his great-granddaughter, and Qiu Gu began condemning Holy Spirit Hall.
• A strange force interrupted everyone’s thoughts and made them forget what they had been discussing, while Ai Cangsheng recognized that the phenomenon had happened before.
• Xu Xiaoshou returned to the summit of Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain using World-Apart Independence, remaining unnoticed by everyone except Ai Cangsheng.
• Ai Cangsheng detected Xu Xiaoshou’s position, seized the Evil Sin Bow, and nocked an arrow.

Xu Xiaoshou stayed hidden from the people on Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain, but Ai Cangsheng detected the disturbances caused by his presence and attacked what he believed was an unseen enemy. After Ai Cangsheng shot Qiu Gu and nearly killed Bei Bei, Xu Xiaoshou revealed himself by carrying Bei Bei away as a hostage.

• Xu Xiaoshou used World-Apart Independence to evade notice, while Ai Cangsheng's Eye of the Great Dao detected the spatial and forgetting-law disturbances around him.
• Ai Cangsheng fired at the Nine-Sacrifice Osmanthus, but Zhong Yuanzi redirected the arrow's blast away from the Ancestor Tree.
• When Qiu Gu challenged him, Ai Cangsheng aimed at him and shot him across the realms, shattering his nine-dragon protection.
• Ai Cangsheng aimed at Bei Bei and ordered her to move, using her reactions to track the invisible figure behind her.
• After Ai Cangsheng warned Bei Bei that someone stood behind her, Xu Xiaoshou grabbed her by the head and flew away, greeting the people of Holy Mountain.

Xu Xiaoshou returned to the Holy Spirit Continent and staged a loud entrance on Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain, where Feng Zhongzui broadcast him and Bei Bei across the Five Domains. As the continent watched, Li Fugui mobilized the Apricot Realm and contacted Lord Ba Zunan under the alias Xiao Zhu, setting the stage for a larger confrontation.

• Xu Xiaoshou grabbed Bei Bei and shouted for the Holy Mountain crowds to praise him as he displayed his spatial profundity.
• Xu Xiaoshou pulled Feng Zhongzui into the air, forced him to broadcast, and imprisoned him and Bei Bei in separate spatial spheres.
• Feng Zhongzui broadcast Bei Bei's reactions across the Five Domains, and viewers laughed as she raised her sword in anger and failed to escape Xu Xiaoshou's technique.
• A projection of Xu Xiaoshou appeared over Yujing City, where residents reacted with divided cheers and protests.
• Li Fugui ordered subordinates to enter the Godslayer Official Ruins, spread chaos across the Five Domains, and coordinate with the other Master Shous.
• Li Fugui contacted Lord Ba Zunan and introduced himself as Xiao Zhu, Zhu Sanli.

Xu Xiaoshou faced the Holy Spirit Hall’s Half-Saints beneath the Dao Transmission Mirror and effortlessly defeated Qin Duan with a glance, breaking Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain’s protective array. He then taunted Ai Cangsheng as a silver moon and solitary tower appeared around him, setting the stage for his confrontation with the Great Emperor.

• Spirit Refiners across the Five Domains gathered to watch Xu Xiaoshou return and confront the Holy Spirit Hall’s forces on Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain.
• Qin Duan announced his name and clan before the watching continent, then charged Xu Xiaoshou with his Blood Punishment Killing Halberd.
• Xu Xiaoshou called Ai Cangsheng “Dog Ai” and told Qin Duan to get lost, freezing time and space before unleashing Sword Thought from his eyes.
• Xu Xiaoshou’s gaze shattered Qin Duan’s protective artifacts, wounded him, and blasted him through the mountain, while its lingering force broke Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain’s grand array.
• Feng Zhongzui narrated Xu Xiaoshou’s feat and attempted to film Ai Cangsheng, but the scene shifted to a silver moon and solitary tower as Xu Xiaoshou taunted the Great Emperor.

Xu Xiaoshou returned to Holy Mountain and used illusions, repeated appearances, and the Dao of Editing to make it seem as if Ai Cangsheng refused his repeated challenges. As the plan deepened the division among Holy Mountain’s forces, Qin Duan called Ai Cangsheng “Ai Dog,” and Xu Xiaoshou mocked him again from the horizon.

• Xu Xiaoshou’s sudden rise in Dao comprehension shocked the Five Domains, while Ai Cangsheng ordered Xi to execute the conservative Plan Sixteen and avoid confronting him directly.
• Xi announced Plan Sixteen, provoking angry objections from the saints and demi-saints on Holy Mountain, who demanded that Ai Cangsheng explain himself and fire at Xu Xiaoshou.
• Xu Xiaoshou repeatedly challenged Ai Cangsheng to fight head-on, using fake bodies, the Illusion Sword Technique, and the Dao of Editing to make viewers believe Ai Cangsheng never responded.
• Ai Cangsheng fired arrows to expose Xu Xiaoshou’s deceptions, but Xu Xiaoshou kept returning and continued broadcasting his challenge through Feng Zhongzui’s Dao Transmission Mirror.
• After Qin Duan’s soul returned and his body was restored, he angrily called Ai Cangsheng “Ai Dog,” prompting Ai Cangsheng to raise his bow at him.
• Xu Xiaoshou mocked Ai Cangsheng from the horizon, asking whether he would shoot his own people but still refuse to fight Xu head-on.

At Listening Rain Pavilion, Yue Gongli watched Xu Xiaoshou torment Ai Cangsheng and discussed what he had learned in the Relics of the Gods with A-Si. He laid out a cautious strategy for the five great Holy Emperor Clans and ended by reflecting on how Dao Qiongchang and Xu Xiaoshou had changed.

• Yue Gongli watched Xu Xiaoshou repeatedly evade Ai Cangsheng’s attacks while demanding a head-on fight, and he laughed at the spectacle.
• Yue Gongli told A-Si that Xu Xiaoshou, Shen Yi, and Dao Qiongchang had helped him survive the Sui Yin Evil God, and that Ba Shencao and others had revealed much about the Ten Seat Holders.
• Yue Gongli judged that the Cold Palace Imperial Realm should avoid interfering in the Rao Clan’s fall, delay claiming its Holy Emperor seat, and build alliances across the Five Domains.
• Yue Gongli named Xu Xiaoshou and Ba Zunan as potential allies and explained how Cold Palace could cooperate with different factions to contain its rivals.
• Yue Gongli warned A-Si not to underestimate Dao Qiongchang, admitted that he had mistaken his own intellect for Dao’s equal, and called Xu Xiaoshou rotten after his return from the Relics of the Gods.

Yue Gongli analyzed Xu Xiaoshou’s strategy and sent A-Si to advise Ai Cangsheng on defending Holy Mountain, while privately uncovering a way to track Sui Yin. He then took holy medicines and headed to the barren mountain, claiming he was going to blow himself up.

• Yue Gongli told A-Si to assure Ai Cangsheng that the Holy Emperor of the Cold Palace would help, then outlined ways to counter Xu Xiaoshou, including bringing back Fish Elder and using other powerful fighters.
• Yue Gongli suggested that Ai Cangsheng might issue a Saint Invitation Order or release monsters from the Dead Sea restricted zone if Fish Elder remained absent, but he reconsidered and withdrew the latter advice.
• Yue Gongli realized that a mark on the Saint-Infant Bearing Plant’s divine husk had passed to Sui Yin, giving him a way to locate Sui Yin through his remaining divine husks.
• Yue Gongli took the prepared holy medicines and left Listening Rain Pavilion for the barren mountain, telling A-Si he was going to blow himself up.

In the Relics of the Gods, Elder Sang revealed that his return to the Dead Sea was part of a long-standing plan to ignite upheaval across the Holy Spirit Continent. He entrusted Xu Xiaoshou with carrying the struggle forward and left him to confront the turmoil on Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain, warning that time was limited.

• Elder Sang and the Water Ghost discussed Xu Xiaoshou’s tactics against Ai Cangsheng, and Elder Sang urged him to press his advantage while watching for interference from Dao Qiongchang and others.
• Jinren explained that leaving the Relics of the Gods required cultivating the profundities of body, spirit, and will, while Elder Sang warned that Ai Cangsheng might possess a complete Divine Court and other powerful trump cards.
• Elder Sang insisted he would return to the Dead Sea, explaining that his plan would link upheaval there with conflicts across the Five Domains and draw in Ba Zunan, Void Island, and forces from every race.
• Elder Sang described how Sui Yin, Dao Qiongchang, and Xu Xiaoshou had changed the plans surrounding them, then entrusted Xu Xiaoshou with what came next.
• Elder Sang told Xu Xiaoshou to act freely on Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain, saying he would enter the game in person when the time was right and warning that Xu Xiaoshou had little time.

After returning to the Relics of the Gods, Xu Xiaoshou celebrated the Passive Value he had gained and devised his own version of Great God Descent Technique. He spent his resources upgrading culinary and painting mastery, then discovered he could recreate powers he had seen through painting.

• Xu Xiaoshou entered the Relics of the Gods and laughed over gaining more than twelve million Passive Value while Elder Sang and the others stayed behind to maintain the Holy Mountain standoff.
• Xu Xiaoshou analyzed Dao Qiongchang's Great God Descent Technique and used marked Will incarnations to practice a theatrical version of the technique.
• Xu Xiaoshou decided to upgrade Mastery of Culinary Arts and Painting Mastery rather than invest in Great Dao Disks, second awakenings, Evolution Water, or Passive Keys.
• Xu Xiaoshou raised both mastery skills to Saint Emperor Lv.0 and gained new insights into cooking and reconstructing images.
• Xu Xiaoshou painted a scene of Ai Cangsheng firing the Evil Sin Bow, then altered the arrow's power to match what he had seen and wondered whether painting could recreate any observed power.

Xu Xiaoshou experimented with Painting Mastery and Culinary Arts, accidentally blasting a crater through the Thirty-Third Heaven before turning to awaken his passive skills. After ten failures, he sought fortune from the Dragon Apricot Spirit and successfully awakened both Perception and Sharpness.

• Xu Xiaoshou used Painting Mastery to create a convincing Dao Qiongchang double and combined his mastery skills to cook Dao rules into a pill, then paint it as a cat.
• Water Ghost, Elder Sang, and Feng Yujin noticed strange disturbances in the heavens while Xu Xiaoshou’s experiment blasted a huge hole in the Thirty-Third Heaven.
• Xu Xiaoshou realized the Relics of the Gods’ powerful Dao rules had amplified his Chaotic Stew Technique, then decided to focus on awakening his passive skills to help Jinren.
• Xu Xiaoshou failed ten attempts to awaken Perception in the Relics of the Gods, moved to the Eighteenth Heaven, and then sought a blessing from the Dragon Apricot Spirit in the Apricot Realm.
• After receiving the Dragon Apricot Spirit’s blessing, Xu Xiaoshou successfully gave Perception the Second Awakening Thought Deprivation and Sharpness the Second Awakening Blade of the Fallen Kingdom.