Chapter Summaries

After reaching a new cultivation level, Zhong Shan sought the Shining Sun Sword, a Ninth Grade Magical Treasure that suppressed a Nether Spring. Drawing it out unleashed an enormous eruption of Earth Yin Energy, and Zhong Shan used his Eight-Tailed Heaven Swallowing Beast phantom to protect Bao Er, Ling Er, and Wei Taizhong as the blast engulfed them.

• Zhong Shan reflected on the need to grow stronger and decided to retrieve the Shining Sun Sword from Sky Wolf Island.
• Zhong Shan ordered the Great Zheng people to collect the Void Spirit Pearls appearing across the sky and summoned the Wolf Generals and Mud Bodhisattva.
• Zhong Shan led his companions to the Miasma Forest, where Mud Bodhisattva identified a warning feng shui formation protecting the Shining Sun Sword and a Nether Spring.
• Zhong Shan ordered six Wolf Generals to use a formation to draw out the Shining Sun Sword despite Mud Bodhisattva's warning.
• The Shining Sun Sword emerged, releasing a vast wave of Earth Yin Energy from a Nether Spring far larger than expected.
• Zhong Shan shielded Bao Er, Ling Er, and Wei Taizhong with his Eight-Tailed Heaven Swallowing Beast phantom as the Earth Yin Energy engulfed them.

Zhong Shan and his companions escaped the erupting Netherworld Spring, but drawing the Shining Sun Sword severed Sky Wolf Island from its Earth Vein and set the island tilting toward collapse. Zhong Shan ordered Lu Jianping to expand the Lingxiao Treasure Hall across the island and finish the project within eighty years, leaving its survival to construction.

• Zhong Shan used a replica Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail to protect his group and retreat from the Netherworld Spring, and Mud Bodhisattva recognized the creature.
• A massive earthquake struck Sky Wolf Island, and Zhong Shan and the others realized the entire island was tilting.
• Emperor Xuan Sha arrived, sealed the Netherworld Spring, and explained that the Earth Vein had been severed, leaving Sky Wolf Island at risk of collapse within a century.
• Zhong Shan summoned Lu Jianping and asked whether the Lingxiao Treasure Hall could be expanded to cover Sky Wolf Island and sustain it as a self-contained landmass.
• Zhong Shan ordered the Ministry of Works to expand five hundredfold, promised to supply materials, and gave Lu Jianping eighty years to complete the project.

Zhong Shan planned to save Sky Wolf Island by raising it into the sky as the Heavenly Palace, then returned to the Ancient Saintly Capital ahead of Gu Shentong's attempt to Open Heaven and Earth. After reuniting with Gu Qian You, he learned that the veiled Seven Stars Hall Master was so beautiful that even women became enraptured, and Gu Qian You hinted that Zhong Shan had seen her before.

• Zhong Shan asked Emperor Xuan Sha and the Wolf Clan to cooperate in transforming Sky Wolf Island into the Heavenly Palace, and Emperor Xuan Sha agreed to support him.
• Hao Meili visited Zhong Shan after learning that Sky Wolf Island had collapsed, gave him a Ten Thousand Year Dragon Pearl, and heard that the Shining Sun Sword had severed the island's Earth Vein.
• Zhong Shan had the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail refine the Shining Sun Sword and Ten Thousand Year Dragon Pearl, then absorbed the remnants and advanced to the tenth layer of the Body Integration Realm.
• Zhong Shan returned to the tense Ancient Saintly Capital six months before Gu Shentong was set to Open Heaven and Earth, and reunited with Gu Qian You after she had waited a month for him.
• Gu Qian You described the veiled Seven Stars Hall Master as irresistibly beautiful and hinted that Zhong Shan had seen her before, prompting him to recall a figure.

Zhong Shan learned that Nu Qinghui was Seven Stars Hall's master and that Zi Xun was her daughter from a previous life, then heard about Mister Shui Jing and Liu Yanyan's painful reunion. He promised to help Liu Yanyan leave with Shui Jing without regret or attachment to King Da Xuan, in exchange for Shui Jing's wisdom, and revealed that his solution would be a scheme.

• Gu Qian You told Zhong Shan that Nu Qinghui, Nian Youyou's master, led Seven Stars Hall and that Zi Xun was Nu Qinghui and The Emperor's daughter in a previous life.
• Gu Qian You said Nu Qinghui had taught her powerful spells and cultivation techniques from the Netherworld, while she and Zhong Shan wondered whether The Emperor would succeed at Opening Heaven and Earth.
• Mister Shui Jing told Zhong Shan that Liu Yanyan had recovered her past-life memories but remained torn between him and King Da Xuan.
• Zhong Shan advised Shui Jing that his uprightness was worsening Liu Yanyan's suffering and offered to resolve her pain without sealing her memories.
• Shui Jing agreed to follow Zhong Shan's arrangements and offered his wisdom in exchange for help, and Zhong Shan said his unorthodox method was a scheme.

Zhong Shan used a calculated courtship scheme to bring Mister Shui Jing and Liu Yanyan closer through daily music and painting, then engineered a painful separation that revealed Liu Yanyan’s attachment. He told Mister Shui Jing that the next stage would be to turn Fan Xiao Ying against Liu Yanyan and dismantle King Da Xuan’s Residence from within.

• Zhong Shan instructed Mister Shui Jing to play tunes for Liu Yanyan while she painted scenes inspired by their shared past, and she gradually grew comfortable with the daily visits.
• After two months and sixty paintings, Zhong Shan told Mister Shui Jing to stay away for three days, leaving Liu Yanyan waiting and distressed.
• On the fourth day, Mister Shui Jing returned and told Liu Yanyan he was leaving, then packed away all the paintings and his zither despite her protests.
• Liu Yanyan broke down in tears and returned to King Da Xuan's Residence, while Zhong Shan explained to Mister Shui Jing that removing everything would intensify her feelings.
• Zhong Shan revealed that Fan Xiao Ying had been made to witness key details and would next be used to break the relationship between King Da Xuan and Liu Yanyan.

Fan Xiao Ying’s account led King Da Xuan to believe Liu Yanyan had poisoned Mister Shui Jing, driving Liu Yanyan from the residence and completing Zhong Shan’s plan to reunite them. Zhong Shan then worried that the Emperor’s private meeting with the Four Great Crown Princes signaled he was preparing for failure before Opening Heaven and Earth.

• Fan Xiao Ying told King Da Xuan that Liu Yanyan had poisoned Mister Shui Jing, and Fan Yipin warned that the story might be a trap staged by Zhong Shan.
• King Da Xuan questioned Liu Yanyan, misread her grief and certainty as proof of Mister Shui Jing’s death, and turned cold toward her.
• Fan Xiao Ying and the other consorts spread rumors about Liu Yanyan until King Da Xuan cast her into the Cold Palace.
• Liu Yanyan left the Ancient Saintly Capital for the Yuheng Sect, while Zhong Shan considered the second step of his plan successful.
• Zhong Shan and Gu Qian You discussed the Emperor’s summons of the Four Great Crown Princes, and Zhong Shan feared the Emperor was making preparations to retreat from Opening Heaven and Earth.

As Gu Shentong prepared to Open Heaven and Earth, experts from across the world gathered outside the Ancient Saintly Capital to witness the dangerous feat. Zhong Shan met Emperor Xuan Sha and learned that Divine Crow Dao Lord, another gathered Tian Ji Realm expert, wielded the legendary Slaying Immortal Flying Knife.

• The citizens and armies withdrew from the Ancient Saintly Capital while vast thunderclouds gathered above it ahead of Gu Shentong's attempt to Open Heaven and Earth.
• Zhong Shan watched from a mountain with Gu Qian You and his companions as Emperor Xuan Sha arrived and Xuan Yuan, Nie Fanchen, and Wu Jiu Tian gathered nearby.
• Emperor Xuan Sha greeted the other Tian Ji Realm experts, including a fearsome golden-haired man whose gaze overwhelmed Zhong Shan.
• Emperor Xuan Sha identified the man as Divine Crow Dao Lord, master of the Eternal Life Realm, and explained that his gourd contained the legendary Slaying Immortal Flying Knife.
• Emperor Xuan Sha warned Zhong Shan not to provoke Divine Crow Dao Lord and revealed that Gu Shentong possessed the powerful Opening Heaven Axe.

Gu Shentong absorbed the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty’s qi luck and used Earthly Soil to suppress the land before confronting the heavenly tribulation. He scattered the thunderclouds with the Heavenly Dynasty Imperial Jade Seal, but the heavens answered by sending a colossal pillar of ice crashing down on him and the Ancient Saintly Capital.

• Peerless powerhouses gathered around the Ancient Saintly Capital as lightning battered the city and Gu Shentong emerged from the palace.
• Gu Shentong absorbed the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty’s qi luck, causing Zhong Shan and the dynasty’s subjects to sense a mysterious connection to him.
• Gu Shentong spread Earthly Soil across the Ancient Saintly Capital to seal the land before opening Heaven and Earth.
• Gu Shentong used the Heavenly Dynasty Imperial Jade Seal to scatter the thunderclouds after enduring their fierce lightning assault.
• The heavens formed an enormous pillar of ice spanning Heaven and Earth and sent it crashing toward Gu Shentong and the Ancient Saintly Capital.

Gu Shentong survived Heaven’s crushing ice by shattering it with his fists, then faced Heaven’s wrath as the Eye of Heaven appeared. He stood unbowed beneath its blood-red gaze, ready for the battle to come.

• The Tiger Clan Supreme merged his tiger soul into Gu Shentong, risking death if Gu Shentong failed to break through.
• Gu Shentong punched through the descending solid ice of Heaven and Earth, shattering it and leaving the Ancient Saintly Mountain unharmed.
• Heaven covered the world in red clouds after realizing Gu Shentong meant to Open Heaven and Earth and challenge it.
• A colossal red egg split open in the sky, revealing the Eye of Heaven and terrifying the spectators.
• The Eye of Heaven fixed its gaze on Gu Shentong, who stood proudly and glared back without yielding.

Gu Shentong endured the Eye of Heaven’s seven increasingly powerful World Extinguishing Light Beams and summoned the Opening Heaven Axe to withstand them. As the Eye of Heaven prepared a greater attack, Gu Shentong drew strength from all fifty billion cultivators of the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty, and his body began growing to a colossal size.

• The Eye of Heaven fired purple, cyan, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red beams at Gu Shentong, who fought them off and used the Opening Heaven Axe to destroy or block the later attacks.
• The Eye of Heaven surrounded itself with red beams and shrouded itself in Blood Mist as it prepared an even more powerful technique.
• Gu Shentong commanded the people of the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty to raise their hands and lend him their strength.
• Zhong Shan and the dynasty’s other cultivators raised their hands, and their strength was drained away as it gathered toward Gu Shentong.
• Billions of golden rays and a halo surrounded Gu Shentong as he grew larger and larger until he towered over the Ancient Saintly Capital.

Zhong Shan stabilized the Kaiyang Sect’s position so the Big Dipper Seven Stars Array could help Gu Shentong form the Great Luo Heavenly Stars Formation. Gu Shentong then broke through the Eye of Heaven’s attacks and split it with a single blow, leaving Heaven’s fate uncertain.

• Gu Shentong grew to an enormous size and revealed the starlight shining beneath his right foot as the Eye of Heaven prepared its attack.
• Zhong Shan rushed to the Kaiyang Sect and used his Square Heaven Jade Seal, strengthened by Great Zheng’s fortune, to stabilize the shaking Kaiyang position.
• The Kaiyang Wuqu Spoon and six other sects’ positions sent seven pillars of starlight into the heavens, enabling Gu Shentong to form the Great Luo Heavenly Stars Formation.
• Emperor Xuan Sha explained that the stars, sun, and moon visible in the Small Chiliocosm Worlds came from the Great Chiliocosm World.
• The formation restrained the Eye of Heaven, and Gu Shentong ignored its attacks before striking it with the Opening Heaven Axe and cleaving it in two.

After Gu Shentong destroyed the Eye of Heaven, Emperor Xuan Sha explained that he still had to break through the Primordial Chaos for their Small Chiliocosm World to enter the Great Chiliocosm World. Gu Shentong used the God Scroll and Heavenly Dynasty Imperial Jade Seal to hold open a growing breach in the chaos, while Zhong Shan's Square Heaven Jade Seal absorbed stellar force; the breach neared the Primordial Purple Wall.

• Gu Shentong split the Eye of Heaven with the Opening Heaven Axe, and blood rain fell as the Eye exploded.
• Emperor Xuan Sha told Zhong Shan and Gu Qian You that breaking the Primordial Chaos was the final step before their world could enter the Great Chiliocosm World.
• At the Kaiyang Sect, the red pearl in Zhong Shan's Square Heaven Jade Seal drew stellar force from the Great Chiliocosm World into the jade seal.
• Gu Shentong struck the Primordial Chaos, but the breach quickly healed until he unfolded the God Scroll and fitted the Heavenly Dynasty Imperial Jade Seal into it.
• Gu Shentong hacked at the chaos continuously for seventy-two hours, enlarging the breach as Emperor Xuan Sha warned that the backlash might have injured him.
• Emperor Xuan Sha said Gu Shentong was nearing the Primordial Purple Wall and advised Zhong Shan to collect the Primordial Purple Qi released by the final strike.

Gu Shentong broke through the chaos barrier but failed to shatter the Primordial Purple Wall with his first strike. He burned his life for a final blow that cracked the wall, but Primordial Purple Qi consumed him, leaving the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty mourning its dead Emperor.

• Gu Shentong cleaved through the chaos barrier, and Purple Light poured into the Divine Continent from beyond it.
• Gu Shentong struck the Primordial Purple Wall, but it remained unharmed and threw him back into a crater.
• Gu Shentong burned his life force and unleashed his Shattered Body Power in a final axe strike, cracking the Primordial Purple Wall.
• Primordial Purple Qi engulfed Gu Shentong, and he vanished along with the Opening Heaven Axe as cracks in the sky pulled in nearby experts.
• Heaven sent blood rain to mark Gu Shentong's death, the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty's fortune connection vanished, and Gu Qian You and the subjects wailed and knelt.

Gu Shentong failed to open heaven and died, leaving the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty in mourning and Zhong Shan to comfort Gu Qian You. After swallowing a wisp of Primordial Purple Qi, Zhong Shan broke through to the second tier of the Emperor Realm and emerged from seclusion as Gu Qian You asked to attend Gu Shentong’s memorial service.

• Gu Shentong exhausted his power trying to break the Primordial Purple Wall, died when his attempt failed, and left the Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty in mourning.
• Zhong Shan comforted the grieving Gu Qian You as powerful figures gathered the scattered wisps of Primordial Purple Qi.
• The Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail swallowed a wisp of Primordial Purple Qi that drifted toward Zhong Shan, and he led his group away to digest it.
• At Gu Shentong’s memorial service, the Four Great Crown Princes and former subjects mourned him at the crater known as the Ancient Abyss.
• Zhong Shan absorbed the energy of the Primordial Purple Qi, broke through to the second tier of the Emperor Realm, and strengthened the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail.
• Gu Qian You asked Zhong Shan to take her to Gu Shentong’s memorial service at the Ancient Abyss.

Zhong Shan and Gu Qian You paid their respects to Gu Shentong at the Ancient Abyss, where Zhong Shan publicly bid farewell to the fallen Great Luo Heavenly Dynasty. As Zhong Shan prepared to leave, Huan Tu Long revealed Gu Shentong’s decree naming King Zheng Yi as heir to everything he had left.

• Zhong Shan agreed to take Gu Qian You and the Zhong Family Army to Gu Shentong’s memorial despite his advisors’ warnings about the danger.
• Zhong Shan and Gu Qian You arrived at the memorial, where nearly eighty million people had gathered to mourn Gu Shentong.
• Gu Qian You and Zhong Shan offered incense, and Zhong Shan led the Zhong Family Army in a final salute to the Great Luo Emperor.
• Zhong Shan turned to leave without greeting the Four Great Crown Princes, but Huan Tu Long called him back to hear an important announcement.
• Huan Tu Long revealed that Gu Shentong’s decree named King Zheng Yi as the heir to everything belonging to the Emperor.

At Gu Shentong’s memorial, Zhong Shan refused Gu Zheng Yi’s invitation to stay and leave Gu Qian You behind, while learning that Nan Batian had vanished into a Space-Time Rift. As Zhong Shan prepared to depart, Zi Xun arrived to pay respects and revealed her familiarity with him, leaving the others wondering about their connection.

• Zhong Shan asked Gu Zheng Yi what had happened to Nan Batian, and Gu Zheng Yi said a Space-Time Rift had swallowed him during Gu Shentong’s final strike.
• Gu Zheng Yi invited Zhong Shan to stay and then asked Gu Qian You to remain, but Gu Qian You rejected him and declared that she would no longer call him Father.
• Zhong Shan confronted Gu Zheng Yi and insisted that no one could stop him from leaving; Gu Zheng Yi then allowed Gu Qian You to go with him.
• As Zhong Shan was departing with Gu Qian You and the Zhong Family Army, Zi Xun arrived to pay respects to Gu Shentong and exchanged a familiar greeting with Zhong Shan.
• Zi Xun expressed surprise that Zhong Shan had reached the Emperor Realm, then offered incense while the Crown Princes wondered about her connection to him.

Nu Qinghui attacked Gu Shentong’s memorial hall, confronted Zi Xun, and learned that Zhong Shan had survived an arrow that should have killed him. A year later, Zhong Shan reorganized Great Zheng’s leadership by appointing Shui Jing as a legion commander and Liu Wushuang as chief commander of the Brocade-Clad Guard.

• Nu Qinghui blasted apart part of White Jade Mountain and defeated Huan Tu Long with a single look, revealing that she had reached the Tian Ji Realm.
• Zi Xun rebuked Nu Qinghui, who acknowledged that Zhong Shan had been the one Nian Youyou chose; Zi Xun warned her not to cause Zhong Shan’s death and then vanished.
• Nu Qinghui recognized that Zhong Shan had survived the arrow through his Violet Manor, then left after exchanging a profound look with him.
• Zhong Shan departed the Ancient Abyss with Gu Qian You and the Zhong Family Army, and Gu Qian You questioned him about Zi Xun.
• One year later, Zhong Shan appointed Shui Jing as Great Zheng’s Sixth Army Commander and named Liu Wushuang chief commander of the Brocade-Clad Guard.

Zhong Shan’s Shadow Body planned to conquer the Chaotic Zone for the Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty, while his main body oversaw an Imperial Examination on Sky Wolf Island. The chapter ended with Han Jiguang revealing that the Great Radiance Dynasty had already been rebuilt ten years earlier and was nearly ready to become an imperial dynasty.

• Shui Wuhen and Liu Wushuang reported that former Great Luo leaders had established the Great Yong, Great Tang, Spring Autumn, and Yongle dynasties.
• Zhong Shan told the six Great Zheng Legion Commanders to build strength for ten years before attacking the Chaotic Zone and assigned them directions to target.
• Zhong Shan stayed behind to play chess with Wei Yinglan after the commanders left.
• Zhong Shan’s main body presided over the Great Zheng Imperial Examination, where 38,000 candidates reached the metropolitan examination.
• Han Jiguang told his two Crown Princes that the Great Radiance Dynasty had been rebuilt ten years earlier and was close to advancing to an imperial dynasty.

Zhong Shan agreed to accompany Sword Pride in the Inheritance of Tinder at Netherworld Heaven, where they would compete for the next Heaven Lord. Two years later, Zhong Shan’s Shadow Body arrived at Desolate Mountain and entered the black-cloud-shrouded Netherworld Heaven with Sword Pride and Chu Jiu.

• Zhong Shan met Sword Pride, who asked him to accompany him in the Inheritance of Tinder, and Zhong Shan agreed to meet him in Shenzhou.
• Mud Bodhisattva told Zhong Shan that the Taiji Diagram, Netherworld Heaven’s supreme treasure, lay at Yin and Yang Realms Mountain and asked him to try to obtain it.
• Two years later, Zhong Shan’s Shadow Body arrived at Desolate Mountain, where Sword Pride and Chu Jiu were waiting.
• Zhong Shan joined Sword Pride and Chu Jiu as they flew into Netherworld Heaven through its black clouds and Baleful Qi.

Zhong Shan, Sword Pride, and Chu Jiu arrived in Netherworld Heaven for the Inheritance of Tinder, which was due to begin in three days. Several people who recognized Zhong Shan reacted with fear or anger as the participants gathered to wait.

• Sword Pride explained that the vast Yin and Yang Realms Mountain was divided into Yin and Yang sides, and led Zhong Shan and Chu Jiu to an unoccupied peak near the inheritance site.
• A man in yellow told Sword Pride that ten Devil Lords and ten Seniors had arrived, and the three settled into buildings atop a mountain.
• Master Xuan recognized Zhong Shan, abandoned his agreement with a purple-robed man, and fled Netherworld Heaven after warning him that he had no hope of gaining the inheritance.
• Se Kong recognized Zhong Shan and urged his Martial Uncle to leave, then fled alone when the Red-Clothed People refused.
• Shen Qitian recognized Zhong Shan and silently recalled how Zhong Shan had ruined his plans and cost him Gu Qian You.
• The assembled groups waited for the Inheritance of Tinder to begin, with Zhong Shan's party facing many powerful rivals.