Chapter Summaries

Dao Qiongchang abducted Moon Palace Slave from the Cold Palace Imperial Realm, and she recognized his identity and accepted his plan to leave. After arranging substitutes and returning to the Heavenly Origin Emperor Realm disguised as Dao Xuanji, he left the next moves to Xu Xiaoshou.

• Dao Qiongchang used a secret-letter scheme involving Dao Xuanji to cover his escape with Moon Palace Slave from the Cold Palace Imperial Realm.
• Moon Palace Slave recovered her strength in the Deep Sea, recognized Dao Qiongchang by the Sword Thought, and accepted being sealed and abducted.
• Dao Qiongchang struck Moon Palace Slave with a Martial-Sealing Talisman, and she sank unconscious into the Deep Sea, trusting that A-Li would learn the truth through the realm's rule-tracing.
• Dao Qiongchang sent Heavenly Mechanism Puppets to impersonate Moon Palace Slave, Dai'er, and Yue Gonghui, then made further arrangements through the Heavenly Mechanism Divine Sect.
• Dao Qiongchang returned to the Heavenly Origin Emperor Realm, transformed into Dao Xuanji, and privately taunted A-Li before leaving the rest to Xu Xiaoshou.

As Xu Xiaoshou questioned A-Si about the Forbidden Sayings, the Cold Palace Saint Emperor tore through Dao Qiongchang’s concealment and threatened to intervene. Xu Xiaoshou publicly invoked Dao Qiongchang as his ally and challenged Yue Gongqi to withdraw, leaving the Five Domains watching as holy light descended from the rift.

• Feng Zhongzui learned that Elder Yang had retired and the sealed Seven Sword Immortal Ranking contained only Xu, Liu, Gu, Bei, and Xi, but the old clan head ordered the Dao Transmission to continue.
• Xu Xiaoshou had asked A-Si about self-imprisonment, status, guidance, and forgetting while Dao Qiongchang concealed them with Heavenly Secrets Art.
• Dao Qiongchang warned Xu Xiaoshou that the Cold Palace Saint Emperor had discovered their concealment, and a rift opened across the sky above the Five Domains.
• Xu Xiaoshou called out the Cold Palace Saint Emperor and revealed Dao Qiongchang’s role in helping him ask the Thirteen Required Questions, prompting Dao Qiongchang to curse him and sever their Telepathic Link Technique.
• Xu Xiaoshou continued speaking through their thought-connection, claiming Dao Qiongchang was his contingency and boasting of his battle against Sui Yin.
• Xu Xiaoshou corrected the Saint Emperor’s name to Yue Gongqi, then insulted him and urged him to retreat while Feng Zhongzui broadcast the challenge.

Xu Xiaoshou’s attempt to make Dao Qiongchang bear the Cold Palace Saint Emperor’s attention was exposed when Dao Qiongchang read his prepared briefing and invoked a Golden Edict forbidding forgetfulness. As the Saint Ancestor’s Hand descended on Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain, Xu Xiaoshou impersonated the Holy Ancestor with Painting Mastery, shattered the hand, and left Dao Qiongchang blamed as his accomplice.

• Dao Qiongchang’s safeguards restored his memories of Xu Xiaoshou, and he exposed Xu’s Way of Forgetting to the Cold Palace Saint Emperor.
• The Cold Palace Saint Emperor issued a Golden Edict forbidding forgetting across the Five Domains, revealing Xu Xiaoshou to Feng Zhongzui and Bei Bei.
• Xu Xiaoshou claimed responsibility for his actions while insisting that Dao Qiongchang was his friend, just as the Saint Ancestor’s Hand reached Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain.
• Xu Xiaoshou used Painting Mastery and the Dragon Orb to appear as the Holy Ancestor, then smashed the Saint Ancestor’s Hand with his shield.
• Xu Xiaoshou declared that he and Dao Qiongchang shared a deep bond, and Dao Qiongchang vomited blood in the Deep Sea, realizing he could not clear his name.

Xu Xiaoshou realized that the Cold Palace Saint Emperor might possess vast Holy Ancestor Divine Remains and be pursuing godhood, while Dao Qiongchang revealed he had drawn the Saint Emperor out to buy time for his own plan. The chapter left Dao Qiongchang standing atop the sleeping Kun in the Southern Abyss, preparing to enlist it.

• Xu Xiaoshou deduced that the Cold Palace Saint Emperor’s pure Ancestral Source Power came from an immense supply of Holy Ancestor Divine Remains.
• Xu Xiaoshou pressured Dao Qiongchang through their Telepathic Link Technique and realized Dao Qiongchang had hidden a route to survive the coming confrontation.
• After learning that the Cold Palace Saint Emperor was in secluded cultivation to become a god and ancestor, Xu Xiaoshou asked A-Si about his true body.
• The Cold Palace Saint Emperor demanded Rao Wangze’s Saint Emperor position, and Dao Qiongchang warned Xu Xiaoshou to stall him while he prepared a solution.
• Dao Qiongchang explained that he had drawn the Cold Palace Saint Emperor’s attention to create an opening, then awakened the sleeping Kun in the Southern Abyss.

Fish Elder awoke from a dream and discovered that Sui Yin’s Saint Emperor status remained within him. After Dao Qiongchang urged him to claim it, Fish Elder rejected him and flew toward the Wurao Emperor Realm to take Rao Wangze’s place.

• Fish Elder recalled his long dream as a Kunpeng and woke when he sensed Dao Qiongchang standing on his head.
• Dao Qiongchang told Xu Xiaoshou that he had a Saint Emperor Godhood and planned to give it to Fish Elder.
• Xu Xiaoshou negotiated with the Cold Palace Saint Emperor, claiming Fish Elder held the Saint Emperor status and demanding that no one interfere with his trip to the Dead Sea.
• Fish Elder remembered being parasitized by Sui Yin and realized that Sui Yin’s Saint Emperor status was still sealed inside him.
• Fish Elder accused Dao Qiongchang of trying to take his spoils of war and declared that the status belonged to him.
• Fish Elder transformed into a Peng and soared from Southern Abyss toward the Wurao Emperor Realm.

After Xu Xiaoshou’s fabricated story led Dao Qiongchang to alter Fish Elder’s memories and push him toward becoming a Saint Emperor, the Cold Palace Saint Emperor followed Fish Elder onto the Heavenly Ladder, separating the conflict above from the Holy Spirit Continent below. With the immediate danger gone, Xu Xiaoshou turned his attention to the Dead Sea and prepared to take Feng Zhongzui and the Five Domains there.

• Yu Zhiwen and Feng Zhongzui witnessed Fish Elder’s Kunpeng form cross the Heavenly Ladder as a Saint Emperor, while Xu Xiaoshou realized Dao Qiongchang had changed Fish Elder’s memories to make his story seem true.
• Xu Xiaoshou and Dao Qiongchang discussed how Fish Elder could distract the other Saint Emperor factions and buy time for Xu Xiaoshou to rescue Elder Sang and face Ai Cangsheng.
• Dao Qiongchang explained that Yue Gongli’s memories had also been guided, delaying the Cold Palace Saint Emperor’s discovery of the truth and keeping the two battlefields apart for a time.
• The Cold Palace Saint Emperor left the Holy Spirit Continent to pursue Fish Elder, and Xu Xiaoshou decided he could use Dao Qiongchang’s help without depending on him.
• Xu Xiaoshou announced that he would take Feng Zhongzui and the Five Domains to see the Dead Sea, and Bei Bei volunteered to lead the way.

Xu Xiaoshou led Bei Bei and the others into the Dead Sea’s hidden approach, where he exposed a concealed Heavenly Secrets World and unleashed a horrifying mass of tongues. The group found a gold-robed man trapped in endless self-punishment, begging the Dao Hall Master for mercy.

• Bei Bei used her White Robes Overlord Token to guide Xu Xiaoshou and the others through a hidden passage into the Dead Sea’s buffer zone.
• Xu Xiaoshou uncovered a concealed Heavenly Secrets World that Bei Bei, Fang Wenxin, and the others had not known was there.
• Xu Xiaoshou tore open the Heavenly Secrets World, releasing a flood of bloody tongues that struck Bei Bei and horrified everyone watching through the Dao Transmission Mirror.
• Fang Wenxin cleared a path through the tongues while Feng Zhongzui carried the Dao Transmission Mirror toward the source of the screams.
• Feng Zhongzui found a gold-robed man repeatedly cutting out his tongue and smashing his head against the ground as he begged the Dao Hall Master for mercy.

Xu Xiaoshou entered the Dead Sea with his companions after exposing and killing a Golden-Robed Judge trapped in the buffer zone. As the group reached the first level's prison, a voice from inside recognized Master Shou and called for him to save Xiao Zhu.

• Xu Xiaoshou learned that the tortured Golden-Robed Judge had been one of three judges who publicly accused Dao Qiongchang, then ordered Bei Bei to kill him while recording the scene for the Five Domains.
• Xu Xiaoshou publicly warned Ai Cangsheng and blamed the Judgment Division for offending his friend Dao Qiongchang.
• Ai Cangsheng declined Zhong Yuanzi's offer to arrange his transport, while Dao Qiongchang watched Xu Xiaoshou and restrained an awakening Heavenly Mechanism Puppet.
• The Five Domains watched as Xu Xiaoshou led his group into the Dead Sea, where its Forbidden Law Barrier weakened the demi-saints and their treasures.
• Xu Xiaoshou and his companions reached the first level's vast black-stone prison, where Xiao Zhu recognized him and cried out for rescue.

Xu Xiaoshou entered the Dead Sea, where its restrictions and six Saint Emperor's Golden Edicts suppressed most powers, and found Zhu Yike imprisoned. He transformed into the Berserk Giant and shattered Zhu Yike’s Blackstone Prison, leaving Dao Qiongchang stunned by proof that Xu could break through the Dead Sea’s rules.

• Xu Xiaoshou discovered that the Dead Sea had sealed his spiritual essence, holy power, and many abilities, though his passive skills still worked.
• Xu Xiaoshou realized Ai Cangsheng was using the Dao Transmission Mirror to watch him because the Eye of the Great Dao could not see into the Dead Sea.
• Bei Bei revealed under Xu Xiaoshou’s guidance that the group had prepared six Saint Emperor's Golden Edicts, which Dao Qiongchang knew were meant to seal Xu Xiaoshou’s abilities.
• Xu Xiaoshou reached Zhu Yike’s prison, paused at a sudden sense of foreboding, then chose to trust his strength and transform into the Berserk Giant.
• Xu Xiaoshou tore apart the Blackstone Prison gate and welcomed Zhu Yike back, while Dao Qiongchang reacted with exhilaration.

Xu Xiaoshou entered Blackstone Prison, transformed despite the Dead Sea’s restrictions, and rescued Zhu Yike. He gave Zhu Yike a mission and let him choose one of the Holy Mountain Saints, leaving Pei Yuan selected.

• Xu Xiaoshou transformed in the Dead Sea and tore apart Blackstone Prison to free Zhu Yike, shocking viewers across the Five Domains.
• Zhu Yike learned the Dao Transmission Mirror was broadcasting and heard Xu Xiaoshou credit Dao Qiongchang with preserving his combat strength.
• Xu Xiaoshou gave Zhu Yike a brocade pouch and instructed him to count to ten before opening it after leaving the Dead Sea.
• Xu Xiaoshou asked Zhu Yike to choose a Half-Saint from the Holy Mountain Refugee Group, but ruled out Bei Bei and Fang Wenxin.
• Zhu Yike chose Pei Yuan, who turned pale as he realized he had been selected.

Pei Yuan recalled the defeat that had defined his long life, then found his resolve again when Xu Xiaoshou asked his name in the Dead Sea. His Heaven Tower Pillar attack could not move Xu Xiaoshou, who gave him two more chances to force him back.

• Pei Yuan remembered how Feng Yujin had defeated him in the final battle of the Ancient Pact War and how he had spent the following centuries waiting for recognition.
• When Xu Xiaoshou asked his name, Pei Yuan straightened his back and declared, "My name is Pei Yuan!"
• Pei Yuan's renewed resolve awakened his Sea of Qi, releasing Saint power despite the Dead Sea's restraints and the Saint Emperor's Golden Edict.
• Xu Xiaoshou offered Pei Yuan three attacks: if Pei Yuan moved him even one step, he could keep his Half-Saint Godhood and enter the Apricot Realm; otherwise, he would surrender it.
• Pei Yuan summoned the Heaven Tower Pillar and struck Xu Xiaoshou with the Heaven-Tilting Finger, but Xu Xiaoshou stopped it with one finger without moving.
• Xu Xiaoshou counted the first failed attack and told Pei Yuan that he still had two chances.

Pei Yuan used a golden relic containing Righteous Heart Buddha’s will to unleash the Great Brahma Dragon Chant against Xu Xiaoshou, but the attack devastated Pei Yuan and swept through the Dead Sea. Xu Xiaoshou remained in place and revealed his soul-and-intent manifestation, the Shadow of the Solitary Tower, as Pei Yuan screamed beneath it.

• Pei Yuan summoned a golden relic and called on Senior Righteous Heart, unleashing the Great Brahma Dragon Chant and its Ten Thousand Monks Carrying the Temple Manifestation.
• The chant overwhelmed spectators across the Five Domains, forcing Bei Bei to shelter the Holy Mountain Refugee Group inside Blackstone Prison while Dao Qiongchang recognized the technique’s connection to Grudge Buddha.
• Xu Xiaoshou endured the chant without retreating as its force tore Pei Yuan’s body and soul apart; the relic briefly cleansed Pei Yuan and made him repent.
• The Great Brahma Dragon Chant swept through the Dead Sea and Blackstone Prison, but Bei Bei used Emperor Sword: Heaven’s Liberation to protect those inside.
• Xu Xiaoshou’s body was left wounded, but his soul and intent manifested as a ninety-nine-story tower beneath a silver moon, and Pei Yuan screamed as the Shadow of the Solitary Tower looked down at him.

Xu Xiaoshou defeated Pei Yuan in the Dead Sea, extracted his Half-Saint Godhood, and gave it to Zhu Yike before sending him out. As the Five Domains watched his reputation grow, Zhu Yike revealed that Aunt Xiang and other prisoners were on the Dead Sea’s sixth level.

• Xu Xiaoshou withstood Pei Yuan’s Great Brahma Dragon Chant, and his Sword God Gu Louying manifestation shattered Pei Yuan’s Dao heart.
• Pei Yuan panicked, called Xu Xiaoshou the Sword Ancestor, and kowtowed until Xu Xiaoshou refined his Half-Saint Godhood from him.
• Xu Xiaoshou felt his reputation and Passive Value rise after the Dao Transmission Mirror broadcast his victory across the Five Domains.
• Xu Xiaoshou gave Pei Yuan’s Half-Saint Godhood and soul fragments to Zhu Yike, then instructed him to leave and deliver the formation disk to Lord Li.
• Zhu Yike told Xu Xiaoshou that Aunt Xiang and other prisoners were on the Dead Sea’s sixth level, then left after Xu Xiaoshou warned him he would encounter a dog.

After escaping the Dead Sea, Zhu Yike attained enlightenment, gambled his way to a Dao Transmission Mirror, and met Feng Xiaoshuang, who had come to retrieve it. Their encounter turned violent and ended with Feng Xiaoshuang injured and the broadcast obscured, while Zhu Yike began counting down for an unfinished task.

• Zhu Yike emerged from the Dead Sea, reflected on his life, and attained enlightenment about fate and reciprocity.
• Zhu Yike gambled with copper coins, producing a Blue Rose's Tear, a radish, and a child mirror of a Dao Transmission Mirror.
• Feng Xiaoshuang discovered that her Dao Transmission Mirror had vanished and went to find Zhu Yike as a Saint Tribulation gathered nearby.
• Zhu Yike mistook Feng Xiaoshuang's visit for romantic luck, and she explained that she had come to retrieve her mirror.
• When Feng Xiaoshuang attacked, Zhu Yike used Heaven-Stealing Sun-Swapping to take her greatsword and wound her, then blocked the mirror's view as the confrontation continued.
• Zhu Yike returned the Dao Transmission Mirror, taunted Feng Xiaoshuang, and began counting down for his unfinished task.

While Zhu Yike counted down on Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain, Xu Xiaoshou reflected on how his fame was strengthening his Sword Thought and the Yousi Sword. Zhu Yike survived the countdown and read aloud a cryptic description of a beast from Master Shou’s embroidered pouch, leaving him unsure what it meant.

• Xu Xiaoshou watched Zhu Yike’s public spectacle and realized that his growing fame was continually nourishing his Sword Thought, even when he was not cultivating or appearing before the audience.
• Xu Xiaoshou compared the Yousi Sword with Bei Bei’s Emperor Sword: Duzun and found that his own Sword Thought had made the fierce sword’s presence surpass its former limits.
• Zhu Yike counted down as Feng Xiaoshuang feared an attack, while Zhong Yuanzi urged Ai Cangsheng to shoot and Ai Cangsheng refused, saying the time had not come.
• When nothing happened after the countdown, Zhu Yike praised Master Shou and prepared to leave, but Feng Xiaoshuang reminded him to open the embroidered pouch.
• Zhu Yike read the pouch’s strange description of a beast aloud to the Five Domains, then wondered whether it referred to the dog Master Shou had mentioned.

Zhu Yike recited Xu Xiaoshou’s insulting story about Ai Cangsheng, driving the emperor to fire the Evil Sin Bow after Zhu mocked him as a transparent dog. As Zhu faced the arrow and the Apricot Realm rejected him, Xu Xiaoshou began telling a story about asking Dao Qiongchang for advice, leaving his next move unrevealed.

• Zhu Yike read Xu Xiaoshou’s “Primordial Beast” story, which the Five Domains recognized as a veiled attack on Ai Cangsheng.
• Ai Cangsheng endured the insults and lowered the Evil Sin Bow, but Zhu Yike taunted him as a transparent dog and crushed his Apricot Realm Jade Talisman.
• Feng Xiaoshuang escaped with a Spacetime Leap as Ai Cangsheng fired the Evil God's Arrow, which pinned Zhu Yike down and shattered his jade talisman.
• Long Xing closed the spatial vortex, leaving Zhu Yike trapped, while the arrow transformed into a banishment-like domain instead of striking him directly.
• Xu Xiaoshou rolled two peach pits and began telling the world that he had asked Dao Qiongchang for advice before fighting Love Dog.

Xu Xiaoshou claimed Dao Qiongchang had devised the plan behind Zhu Yike’s rescue, while Ai Cangsheng’s attacks trapped Zhu Yike inside a Nine-Star World-Severing Gate. Just as Zhu Yike faced death, God-Worship Willow and the Ten-Thousand-World Hanging Willow intervened and pulled him out of the lockdown.

• Xu Xiaoshou told the spectators that Dao Qiongchang had supplied a plan to attack Ai Cangsheng’s heart and rescue Zhu Yike, leaving Ai Cangsheng unsure how much of the story was true.
• Ai Cangsheng formed a Nine-Star World-Severing Gate around Zhu Yike, preventing anyone from reaching him except through the Evil Sin Bow’s arrows.
• Zhu Yike survived two attacks by relying on Long Xing’s blessing, but an ordinary arrow from Ai Cangsheng’s bow overwhelmed his attempts to escape.
• God-Worship Willow emerged from Zhu Yike and broke the arrow, then used its branches to help him endure two more Evil God’s Arrows.
• The Ten-Thousand-World Hanging Willow answered its true-name invocation, pierced the World-Severing Gate, and carried Zhu Yike out of the lockdown.

Xu Xiaoshou used God-Worship Willow and the Relics of the Gods’ Guidance rules to rescue Zhu Yike from Ai Cangsheng, leaving the Five Domains panicked over the ancestor trees’ shifting allegiance. Dao Qiongchang persuaded Ai Cangsheng to look toward the Central Region, where Ba Zunan asked him to let Xu Xiaoshou finish crossing the Dead Sea.

• God-Worship Willow bypassed the Nine-Star World-Severing Gate and carried the injured Zhu Yike away, while Xu Xiaoshou explained that the Relics of the Gods’ Guidance rules made the rescue possible.
• People across the Five Domains feared that Xu Xiaoshou and Saint Slave had gained control of several ancestor trees, leaving the Holy Spirit Continent with little protection or fortune.
• Ai Cangsheng realized Xu Xiaoshou had manipulated him into delaying and ordered Zhong Yuanzi to return with him to the Central Region.
• Dao Qiongchang appeared and urged Ai Cangsheng to stay in the Southern Domain, then directed him to search the Central Region’s Dao for someone.
• Ai Cangsheng saw Ba Zunan’s sword-like Dao in the Central Region, and Ba Zunan asked him to let Xu Xiaoshou finish crossing the Dead Sea.

Xu Xiaoshou toured the Dead Sea’s first five levels, gathering Passive Value while refusing to free its prisoners, then led his group toward the sixth level to rescue Aunt Xiang. As the Dao Transmission Mirror revealed the next level, a ghost-faced sunflower addressed him as an otherworlder.

• Xu Xiaoshou rejected pleas from Blackstone Prison’s prisoners as he toured the first level and gained a large amount of Passive Value from their resentment and curses.
• Xu Xiaoshou left the first level without killing or freeing its prisoners and continued through the Dead Sea, learning that the lower levels imposed stronger restrictions.
• Xu Xiaoshou and the Holy Mountain Refugee Group passed through the second, third, fourth, and fifth levels while the prisoners and Ai Cangsheng remained unmoved by his antics.
• Xu Xiaoshou prepared to descend to the sixth level, where Aunt Xiang was imprisoned, and the Dao Transmission Mirror’s image blurred as his group entered the Pure Water Vortex.
• A golden sunflower with a ghostlike face appeared on the sixth level, and a hoarse voice called Xu Xiaoshou an otherworlder.

Xu Xiaoshou confronted the freely roaming Ghost-Faced Sunflower on the Dead Sea’s sixth level and used the Sunflower’s fear of Dao Qiongchang to question him. He learned that the Sunflower had eaten the Flower of Life to gain immortality and was hiding from a possibly living Medicine Ancestor, then discovered the Sunflower’s name was Kong Yuhen.

• Xu Xiaoshou greeted the Ghost-Faced Sunflower and noticed Aunt Xiang practicing calligraphy in her prison cell.
• Xu Xiaoshou identified the Sunflower’s fear of Dao Qiongchang and made him obey by imitating the Dao Hall Master’s manner and voice.
• The Sunflower said he had stolen and eaten the Flower of Life, while his attempt to name the being he feared was silenced.
• The Sunflower explained that eating the Flower of Life made him immortal but that he was now afraid of the being he had fled from.
• Xu Xiaoshou learned that the being might be Medicine Ancestor Shennong Hundred Herbs and that the Sunflower’s name was Kong Yuhen.