Chapter Summaries

Sack-Ba Zunan killed Cheng Xie and destroyed his remnant soul before Cheng Caizhi, then challenged the furious demi-saint to summon reinforcements. As three more demi-saints arrived, Sack-Ba Zunan recited a defiant poem and stood against all four, leaving Dai Xiu to charge him first.

• Sack-Ba Zunan beheaded Cheng Xie with an unseen sword strike and took the Twin Needles from his sleeve.
• Cheng Caizhi revived Cheng Xie's remnant soul, but Sack-Ba Zunan used Soul Repulsion to destroy it before his grandfather could reach him.
• Sack-Ba Zunan declared his name and told Cheng Caizhi to summon everyone he could, prompting Cheng Caizhi to crush a token for help.
• Demi-saints Dai Xiu, Luo Hui, and Green Ghost arrived to join Cheng Caizhi, while Sack-Ba Zunan recited a poem and stood firm against them.
• Dai Xiu recognized the poem as one Ba Zunan had recited before, then charged Sack-Ba Zunan to test him.

Xu Xiaoshou learned why Ba Zunan had ordered Saint Slave to collect the Famous Swords and heard Ba Zunan’s account of visiting the Sword Tower. Ba Zunan revealed that he planned to face Hua Changdeng himself, then charged Xu Xiaoshou with taking over Saint Slave’s hidden struggle against the Ancestor Gods after Ba Zunan was removed from the game.

• Xu Xiaoshou connected the mortal-life memories and Death God's Scythe to the Dao of Reincarnation, while reflecting on the mysteries of his past life and Passive System.
• Ba Zunan explained that he had learned at the Sword Tower that gathering and liberating all twenty-one Famous Swords might summon the Sword Ancestor’s Ancestor God Godhood, so he had ordered Saint Slave to collect them.
• Ba Zunan told Xu Xiaoshou that he could not judge the Ghost Ancestor and questioned whether the Ten Ancestors’ paths were still unfinished.
• Ba Zunan said he would deal with Hua Changdeng and warned that Xu Xiaoshou would need to uncover and counter the Ancestor Gods’ long-laid plans.
• Ba Zunan explained that the Ancestor Gods had focused their attention on him as a variable and that his removal would let Xu Xiaoshou take over Saint Slave’s board from behind the scenes.

Xu Xiaoshou asked Ba Zunan whether Xiao Kongtong could defeat a Half-Saint, and Ba Zunan said the young swordsman’s preparations were likely complete. At Fusang, Ba Zunan’s Illusion Sword Technique took control of Cheng Caizhi, who found Dai Xiu’s face inside Ba Zunan’s sack.

• Xu Xiaoshou asked Ba Zunan to leave Hua Changdeng to him, but Ba Zunan questioned whether he was ready to become a god and found an ancestry.
• Ba Zunan explained that Xiao Kongtong had endured a life-and-death trial at Moon-Joining Immortal City and was likely prepared to face the Half-Saints at Fusang.
• Li You and the Saints of the City of the Living Futu discussed the Six Ancient Gates, Void Tower, and a mysterious jade-faced scholar who had entered it.
• Dai Xiu charged Ba Zunan with the Separating Spear, but Ba Zunan’s Illusion Sword Technique stopped him and ensnared Cheng Caizhi, Luo Hui, and Green Ghost.
• Cheng Caizhi searched for a way out of the illusion, opened Ba Zunan’s sack, and came face-to-face with Dai Xiu.

Cheng Caizhi and Dai Xiu were drawn into an illusion of the battle of the Ten Seat Holders, where they recognized the legendary figures and realized the scene was designed to unsettle them. Dai Xiu found himself facing Ba Zunan, who began a sword attack that left him trapped in a snowy world as Ba Zunan recited a verse.

• Cheng Caizhi entered a deeper layer of the Illusion Sword Technique and found himself on the battlefield of the Ten Seat Holders.
• Cheng Caizhi recognized the legendary Ten Seat Holders and understood that the figures in the painting were real historical beings, not mere illusionary scenery.
• Dai Xiu found himself inside the famous painting and recognized Wen Ting, Rao Yaoyao, and the fallen Night Owl among its figures.
• Dai Xiu raised his head and faced the gazes of the Ten Seat Holders, while the scholar asked whether he was anxious too.
• Dai Xiu found himself confronting Ba Zunan, who offered him five swords and then chose one for him when he could not answer.
• Ba Zunan unleashed sword light that isolated Dai Xiu in a silent snowy world and began reciting a sword verse.

Ba Zunan trapped four Saints in illusions that forced them to relive their worst fears, then struck Cheng Caizhi with Great Buddha Slash. The other Saints fled or were incapacitated, and Ba Zunan left Cheng Caizhi alive but helpless while Gou Wuyue watched.

• Ba Zunan used his sword techniques to trap Cheng Caizhi, Dai Xiu, Green Ghost, and Luo Hui in a wilderness vision and make them relive their painful pasts.
• Green Ghost broke down, while Dai Xiu briefly escaped the illusion before being drawn back into it and fleeing with Blood Escape.
• Cheng Caizhi woke from the nightmare and found the other Saints retreating, leaving him alone to face Ba Zunan.
• Ba Zunan summoned Great Buddha Slash in the illusion, and Cheng Caizhi was crushed by its pressure.
• Ba Zunan's real strike shattered Cheng Caizhi's defenses and left him sprawled on the ground, alive but unable to rise.
• Ba Zunan picked up his sack and changed his boast after noticing Gou Wuyue's dark expression.

Kui Leihan showed Cao Erzhu visions of the Ancestor Gods and warned him to pass the knowledge to Ba Zunan or Xu Xiaoshou when the time came. In the City of the Dead Futu, Lei Xier and Five Declines of Heaven and Man prepared to enter Crossroads Corner, where her mysterious guidance pointed toward Half-Saint Godhood and a dangerous fate.

• Kui Leihan transmitted Cao Erzhu a vision of Ghost Buddha, Hua Changdeng, and several aberrant phenomena associated with the Ancestor Gods.
• Kui Leihan told Cao Erzhu to remember the visions and relay them to Ba Zunan or Xu Xiaoshou if he could not find his Eighth Uncle.
• Five Declines of Heaven and Man and Lei Xier approached the East Street gate as onlookers watched them head toward Crossroads Corner.
• Five Declines of Heaven and Man concluded that Lei Xier's Supreme Life Demon Body and God-Devil Pupils might make her a vessel prepared for the Devil Ancestor's resurrection.
• Lei Xier said Xu Xiaoshou had taught her the Great Summoning Technique so she could summon Aunt Xiang if danger arose.
• Lei Xier stepped toward the gate and asked Five Declines of Heaven and Man whether he had chosen his own path or was walking someone else's chessboard.

Xu Xiaoshou and Ba Zunan discussed the Ancestor God manifestations linked to Ghost Buddha and recalled clues about the Time Ancestor and the Time Realm. Kong Yuhen brought Xu Xiaoshou, Ba Zunan, and Mei Suren to the Ancient Past Forget-Worry Pavilion, where Xu Xiaoshou returned his gifts and offered help, only for Kong Yuhen to say that he too was anxious.

• Xu Xiaoshou identified the Devil Ancestor, Medicine Ancestor, and other mysterious presences among the manifestations surrounding Ghost Buddha, while Ba Zunan recalled that Qian Shi was linked to an old turtle and a Dao child.
• Ba Zunan remembered that the Ancient Past Forget-Worry Pavilion was the Time Ancestor's Divine Court and recalled the phrase “Time Realm,” prompting discussion of whether it could reflect the collapsed Thirty-Three Heavens.
• An unfamiliar jade-faced scholar explained that the Time Realm was not the Heavenly Realm but might offer a route to mirror it, then transported Xu Xiaoshou, Ba Zunan, and Mei Suren to the Ancient Past Forget-Worry Pavilion.
• Xu Xiaoshou recognized the scholar as Kong Yuhen, and Kong Yuhen's control over time nearly prevented Mei Suren from sitting until Xu Xiaoshou spoke his name.
• Xu Xiaoshou returned the Time Ancestor Shadow Staff to Kong Yuhen, offered him the Apricot Realm Jade Talisman and his personal token, and promised to help him if possible.
• Kong Yuhen looked at Xu Xiaoshou and said, “Friend, you are very anxious as well.”

Xu Xiaoshou and Ba Zunan questioned Kong Yuhen about his shifting appearance and learned that he was searching for the Time Realm and the Six Ancient Gates. After Kong Yuhen revealed his four gates and demonstrated the Void Gate, Xu Xiaoshou noticed his recovered Time Ancestor’s Power and asked whether he was the Time Ancestor.

• Ba Zunan sketched a portrait of Kong Yuhen, and Xu Xiaoshou asked which of Kong Yuhen’s many appearances was his true self.
• Mei Suren suggested that Kong Yuhen might be trapped in self-confinement and struggling with Self-Discernment.
• Kong Yuhen said he sought the Time Realm and asked Xu Xiaoshou and Ba Zunan to lend him their doors.
• Kong Yuhen displayed the Time-Space, Dao Law, Guidance, and Void Gates, then used the Void Gate to take the group into a world of void.
• Kong Yuhen explained that the gates might construct a new world, while Ba Zunan and Xu Xiaoshou noticed Kong Yuhen had gained holy power and Time Ancestor’s Power.
• Xu Xiaoshou asked Kong Yuhen whether he was the Time Ancestor.

Xu Xiaoshou negotiated with Kong Yuhen over the Subdimensional Door and learned that Kong Yuhen had dealt with Sui Yin. After securing the Origin True Stele: War, Xu Xiaoshou followed Kong Yuhen’s instructions and shouted the Dao Incantation to borrow the War Ancestor’s incarnation.

• Kong Yuhen explained how he obtained the Space-Time Gate, Law Gate, and Guidance Gate, then admitted that he had dealings with Sui Yin.
• Xu Xiaoshou repeatedly rejected Kong Yuhen’s offers until Kong Yuhen produced the Origin True Stele: War as a tangible benefit.
• Kong Yuhen explained that Xu Xiaoshou had to form a hand seal and shout the Dao Incantation to borrow the War Ancestor’s incarnation.
• Xu Xiaoshou formed the seal, shouted the Dao Incantation, and called out “War,” while Mei Suren and Ba Zunan began copying his gesture.

Xu Xiaoshou learned that borrowing the War Ancestor’s power required him to form a bond with Its will, which he could pursue by comprehending the Way of Time. With Ba Zunan promising to guard him in Ancient Past Forget-Worry Pavilion, Xu Xiaoshou began cultivating the Time Dao Disc, though he feared encountering the Time Ancestor.

• Kong Yuhen revealed that Xu Xiaoshou needed to connect the Origin True Stele’s will with the War Ancestor’s, and offered a route through the River of Time.
• Xu Xiaoshou questioned Kong Yuhen about whether he was the Time Ancestor and learned that neither Kong Yuhen nor the Ancestor Gods knew for certain whether the Time Ancestor remained alive.
• Ba Zunan recognized that Xu Xiaoshou feared meeting the Time Ancestor after achieving Transcendent Dao Transformation and promised to guard his Dao comprehension.
• Xu Xiaoshou trusted Ba Zunan to protect him, sat down to comprehend the Way of Time, and used a Dao-Nurturing Seed on his Time Dao Disc, which reached 11%.

Xu Xiaoshou advanced his Time Dao Disc and entered the River of Time, where he witnessed his past and the day he acquired Hidden Pain. The chapter left him watching his younger self persuade Old Li to blood-refine the sword.

• Xu Xiaoshou spent Dao-Nurturing Seeds to advance his Time Dao Disc until the River of Time appeared, astonishing Mei Suren, Ba Zunan, and Kong Yuhen.
• Xu Xiaoshou waded into the River of Time and realized that time encompassed growth, decline, and what remained unchanged.
• Xu Xiaoshou watched his younger self awaken after rebirth and greet Hidden Pain beside his bed.
• Xu Xiaoshou witnessed his younger self buy the newly forged Black Sword from Old Li and name it Hidden Pain.
• Xu Xiaoshou's younger self returned to the smithy and pressured Old Li into blood-refining Hidden Pain.

Xu Xiaoshou advanced through the River of Time, witnessing moments from his past and uncovering the origins of the Emberglow Heart and Ancestor Jinzhao. When Kong Yuhen warned him away from an important Ancestor God point in time, Ba Zunan told him to go ahead and promised to handle the rest.

• Xu Xiaoshou watched Hidden Pain come to life, then continued along the River of Time without interfering in his past.
• He encountered Ancestor Jinzhao inside Ghost Buddha and learned that Ghost Buddha had only about a quarter-hour left before it could no longer hold on.
• Xu Xiaoshou followed time back to the Emberlight Nethersea, where he witnessed Feng Yujin's escape and the Firmament Tree give birth to the Emberglow Heart and Ancestor Jinzhao.
• Xu Xiaoshou tried to touch the fading Firmament Tree to investigate how it had bestowed godhood, but Kong Yuhen warned that an Ancestor God point in time was dangerous.
• Ba Zunan appeared beside Xu Xiaoshou and told him to go to the Firmament Tree, promising to handle the rest.

Xu Xiaoshou traveled through the River of Time to investigate the Firmament Tree and discovered traces of Devil Ancestor’s influence on Void Island and the tree’s origins. He witnessed Devil Ancestor entrusting Yue Gongqi with a seed and announcing that Yue Gongqi’s chance to become an Ancestor God had arrived.

• At the Ancient Past Forget-Worry Pavilion, Kong Yuhen warned Ba Zunan and Mei Suren that Xu Xiaoshou was heading to a time node where he could encounter the living Devil Ancestor, but Ba Zunan trusted him to proceed.
• Xu Xiaoshou arrived in an ancient stone hall and recognized murals depicting the Four Ancestors’ deaths and a statue holding the Demon God Spear.
• Xu Xiaoshou remembered that Xiao Kongtong had obtained the Demon God Spear in Slumber Valley, then connected the valley to Yue Gongli’s discovery of Heavenly Ancestor’s Divine Husk and resolved to investigate it later.
• Yue Gongqi entered the hall, mistook the Devil Ancestor statue for the Holy Ancestor, and received a tree seed to plant in the Emberlight Nethersea.
• Devil Ancestor told Yue Gongqi that he might enter reincarnation and would no longer respond to matters, then granted him an Ancestor God Godhood and said his opportunity to become an ancestor had arrived.

Xu Xiaoshou examined why the Devil Ancestor had given Yue Gongqi an Ancestor God Godhood and suspected the Devil Ancestor was preparing to return to zero. After exploring the ancient Cold Palace Imperial Realm, Xu Xiaoshou searched the stone hall for the Devil Ancestor and discovered an “Awkward” Heavenly Mechanism Puppet Rune on the statue.

• Xu Xiaoshou deduced that the Ancestor God Godhood likely belonged to the Holy Ancestor and that the Devil Ancestor had merged with the Holy Ancestor before pursuing a return to zero.
• Yue Gongqi received the Ancestor God Godhood, thanked the Holy Ancestor, and left the stone hall after receiving no further instructions.
• Xu Xiaoshou traced his will out of the underground hall and identified the setting as the Cold Palace Imperial Realm from roughly a thousand years earlier, but the Holy Ancestor’s barrier blocked his return.
• Xu Xiaoshou disguised himself as Yue Gongqi and prayed before the Devil Ancestor’s statue, briefly seeing the hall transformed into a golden, sacred chamber depicting the Holy Ancestor alongside the other Ancestors.
• Xu Xiaoshou searched the hall through the paths of body and spirit without finding the Devil Ancestor, then used the Will Dao Disk and spotted an “Awkward” Heavenly Mechanism Puppet Rune on the statue’s chest.

Xu Xiaoshou confronted the Devil Ancestor, resisted its attempts to manipulate his thoughts, and watched it offer Ba Zunan a partnership that he refused. Xu Xiaoshou then found himself praying to the Holy Ancestor, receiving two Ancestor God Godhoods and the Origin True Stele: Heaven before the Devil Ancestor ended the visions and invited him to make one last wish.

• Xu Xiaoshou recognized the embarrassed Heavenly Mechanism Puppet pattern on the Devil Ancestor stone statue as identical to the one on Dao Qiongchang’s underwear.
• The Devil Ancestor appeared before Xu Xiaoshou, revealed its True Nature of Gods and Devils, and tried to destabilize his thoughts until Ba Zunan helped him regain control.
• The Devil Ancestor revealed that its body and spirit were separated between the Inverted Buddha Pagoda and the Sword Tower, then offered Ba Zunan a partnership that he refused.
• Xu Xiaoshou envisioned Ba Zunan’s disastrous future and realized the Devil Ancestor was tempting him to cooperate instead.
• Xu Xiaoshou experienced a vision in which the Holy Ancestor granted him the War Ancestor and Dragon Ancestor Godhoods and the Origin True Stele: Heaven.
• The Devil Ancestor ended the vision, warned Xu Xiaoshou against greed, and invited him to make one last wish.

Xu Xiaoshou bargained with the Devil Ancestor for a third wish while Ba Zunan and Mei Suren watched from outside the sealed spacetime image. The Devil Ancestor offered to teach him the Path of One Returning to Zero in exchange for collecting every Kong Yuhen on the River of Time and handing them over.

• Kong Yuhen showed Mei Suren and Ba Zunan how Xu Xiaoshou accepted the Devil Ancestor’s gifts, while Ba Zunan explained that Xu Xiaoshou could resist its guidance.
• Xu Xiaoshou asked the Devil Ancestor to fulfill his third wish, then refused to choose until he knew the options and their prices.
• Xu Xiaoshou shut the door to speak privately with the Devil Ancestor, who offered a low choice requiring five hundred years of service and a middle choice involving Two into One and the Path of One Returning to Zero.
• The Devil Ancestor revealed that the Time Ancestor had no Ancestor God Godhood because its existence was zero, and offered to gather all ten Godhoods for Xu Xiaoshou.
• The Devil Ancestor demanded that Xu Xiaoshou collect every Kong Yuhen along the River of Time and hand them over as payment.

Xu Xiaoshou negotiated with the Devil Ancestor over the price of learning about Kong Yuhen and the path of Return to Zero, then faced a tempting offer that would bind him to owe the Devil Ancestor a favor. Meanwhile, Kui Leihan left his blacksmith shop, and Cao Erzhu encountered a girl and a man in red who knew his childhood nickname.

• Xu Xiaoshou learned that Kong Yuhen was connected to the Time Ancestor and agreed to help the Devil Ancestor gather ten Ancestor God Godhoods in exchange for every Kong Yuhen along the River of Time.
• Xu Xiaoshou used Thought Deprivation to hear the Devil Ancestor’s thoughts, then refused to settle for the middle choice and asked to hear the upper choice.
• The Devil Ancestor offered to reveal a secret in exchange for Xu Xiaoshou’s promise to act once when needed, and hinted that everyone had secrets.
• Ghost Buddha’s forehead suddenly burst with blood at the Gui Zhe Ruins, but the wound quickly healed.
• Kui Leihan left his blacksmith shop in the snow, and Cao Erzhu felt watched before a girl in white approached and asked whether Kui Leihan had gone looking for her.
• A man in a red dress called Cao Erzhu “Luo Stone” and revealed that the girl was Luo Leilei before the two departed.

The five great Holy Emperors struggled to hold the Heavenly Ladder’s defenses as Hua Changdeng arrived and was allowed to pass through the Ghost Buddha into the Holy Spirit Continent. The Ancestor Gods then targeted the Northern Region’s Time Realm Rift, where Alliance Leader Yan Sheng led the Northern Region’s defenders toward the three manifested threats.

• Demon Emperor Black Dragon urged the others to withdraw as attacks from beyond the Heavenly Ladder battered the five great Holy Emperors.
• Elder Sang said they needed to intercept the Ancestor Gods one by one, but refused to reveal more of Ba Zunan’s plan.
• Hua Changdeng appeared in the shattered spacetime currents and asked to borrow the road, and Elder Sang and Grudge ordered the others to let him pass through the Ghost Buddha.
• Divine Prison Azure Stone sensed the Ancestor Gods were attacking the Time Realm Rift in the Northern Region, and Elder Sang said someone else was guarding it.
• At the Time Realm Rift, the Old Locust Tree, Sui Yin’s Eye, and the coffin beneath the pagoda appeared, and Alliance Leader Yan Sheng charged toward them as the gathered warriors watched.

Three Ancestor Gods overwhelmed the Time Realm Rift defenses, killing Yan Sheng and Gao Zhan as the Northern Region forces fled. Kui Leihan arrived, removed his Martial-Sealing Talismans, and seized the Ancestral Origin Emperor Tribulation to challenge the Ancestor Gods and defend the rift.

• The purple-eyed monster cut Yan Sheng in half, and Jiang Nayi urged the defenders to activate the Desperate Realm Formation.
• Gao Zhan took command, but an old locust branch pierced the formation and killed him, prompting Jiang Nayi to order a retreat.
• Kui Leihan charged toward the battlefield, knocked Jiang Nayi unconscious when he shouted at him, and revealed himself as the Divine Firmament Chief.
• Kui Leihan removed his Martial-Sealing Talismans, causing his aura and Saint Tribulation to surge into an Ancestral Origin Emperor Tribulation.
• Kui Leihan seized the tribulation lightning as a thunder hammer and vowed to keep the Ancestor Gods from entering the Time Realm Rift.

Xu Xiaoshou gained a deeper understanding of time in the Ancient Past Forget-Worry Pavilion and began his Time Dao Transcendent Dao Transformation, while the Five Domains faced the arrival of the Ancestor Gods. The chapter ended with swords across the Five Domains greeting a supreme being and news that Hua had arrived.

• Xu Xiaoshou withdrew from the Devil Ancestor's time node, questioned how the Devil Ancestor knew of his roulette wheel, and continued comprehending the Way of Time in the Ancient Past Forget-Worry Pavilion.
• Xu Xiaoshou noticed a wooden roulette wheel among Kong Yuhen's carvings, reflected on time as both motion and stillness, and resolved to undergo Transcendent Dao Transformation.
• Xu Xiaoshou planted his final Dao-Nurturing Seed and pushed the Time Dao Disc to 90%, causing the pavilion and world around him to shatter into chaos.
• Li Fugui watched reports from the Time Realm rift, where Kui Leihan fought three monstrous Ancestor Gods and drove them back with a hammer strike.
• Spiritual swords across the Five Domains rose and bowed northward as Li Fugui received a report that Hua had arrived.