Chapter Summaries

Shen Mo blood-refined Heavenly Demon Peiyu and led his Demon Soul Generals in wiping out the Near-Sea Demon Cave. With the cave cleared, he gathered tens of thousands of new Soul Generals and left the stronghold cultivators to collect the spoils.

• Shen Mo trapped Heavenly Demon Peiyu, refined it into a peak fourth-order Demon Soul General, and named it Fairy Peiyu.
• Shen Mo sent Fairy Peiyu against its former kin, helping the Demon Soul Generals break the Heavenly Demons’ last resistance.
• The Demon Soul Generals slaughtered the Near-Sea Demon Cave’s remaining Heavenly Demons, while stronghold cultivators searched the battlefield for resources.
• Shen Mo recalled his Demon Soul Generals and counted three new fourth-order-or-higher generals, over two hundred above the third order, and fifty-eight thousand Lesser Heavenly Demon Soul Generals.
• Stronghold cultivators flew to Shen Mo to pay their respects as the battle ended.

Shen Mo studied the Forbidden Land refinement method from Fairy Peiyu’s Divine Soul memories and considered how Heavenly Monarchs could use it to travel between withered worlds. The chapter ended when his Sound Transmission Talisman rang.

• Shen Mo greeted and encouraged the cultivators stationed at the strongholds while thinking about the Forbidden Land method.
• Shen Mo learned that refining a Forbidden Land required cutting away a small world and entrusting a Dao Fruit to it, unless the cultivator already possessed a Blessed Land.
• Shen Mo realized that a Forbidden Land’s protector had to resist a new world’s assimilating power until the Forbidden Land stabilized.
• Shen Mo wondered whether Dan Chenzi and the other Heavenly Monarchs had used Blessed Lands or small worlds to explore other worlds.
• Shen Mo’s Sound Transmission Talisman suddenly rang.

Shen Mo reunited with Zhao Lingyin and returned to the River-Facing Sect, where his achievements caused a sensation. As he caught up on more than twelve years of changes, he learned how the sect and his old associates had fared, while several important matters remained unresolved.

• Shen Mo received Zhao Lingyin’s message, flew to meet her, and spent half a month traveling back with her aboard the Heaven-Patrolling Tower Ship.
• Shen Mo’s return to Chong’a Mountain stirred the River-Facing Sect, and Yuan Heming and Zhou Zhiwei led a delegation to welcome him.
• Visitors from the sect and other factions, including Origin Core Realm cultivators, flocked to Cloud-Viewing Mansion, where Shen Mo hosted a series of banquets and reunited with old friends.
• Shen Mo learned that the River-Facing Sect had recovered to one hundred thousand cultivators and reviewed changes to its leadership, including Jiang Lingfeng becoming Azure Cloud Peak Master and Chen Mengze taking charge of the Immortal Affairs Hall.
• Shen Mo gave Chen An high-grade spiritual pills and Enlightenment Tea, hoping to help him reach the Spirit Sea Realm.
• Shen Mo learned that Qian Xiaofeng had advanced to the late Qi Gathering Realm and that Mingyu had returned to the Sea Clan after reaching the peak of the third tier.

After Chen Mengze helped Shen Mo improve his Origin Core with her innate qi, he met Great Miluo Aya to ask for protection when he erected his Divine Bridge. Aya could not leave Flower Fairy Valley for another ten years, but Shen Mo believed the timing would still work.

• Chen Mengze emerged from seclusion at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm, accepted Shen Mo’s gifts, and passed him innate qi that strengthened his cultivation.
• Shen Mo absorbed the benefits in seclusion and realized Chen Mengze would reserve her innate qi for him, giving him a chance to raise his Origin Core to supreme grade.
• Shen Mo reflected on the Ghost Gate Pass and resolved to investigate the Ghost Kingdom Ruins again after erecting his Divine Bridge.
• Ami brought Shen Mo to meet Great Miluo Aya, who appeared through a vegetation incarnation because she could not leave Flower Fairy Valley.
• Shen Mo asked Aya to protect him from Lin Zhaozai when he erected his Divine Bridge, and Aya said she and the other Great Miluos could not leave for ten years.

Shen Mo secured the Flower Fairy Clan’s support for his future breakthrough and returned to Chong’a Mountain to cultivate while weighing possible paths to the Divine Bridge Realm. As his strength grew, he took in Titanium Twenty-Six and saw Yu Yan regain a troubled physical form, leaving Shen Mo’s plans for eventual advancement still unfolding.

• Shen Mo and Aya Great Miluo swore Dao oaths: the Flower Fairies would shield his breakthrough, while he would keep seeking spiritual-vegetation mother plants and aid Flower Fairy Valley if he could.
• Ami explained that the Flower Fairies’ celebration welcomed Shen Mo as one of their own after he shared treasures from the Heaven-Patrolling Domain.
• Shen Mo returned to Chong’a Mountain and chose to cultivate toward the peak of the Origin Core Realm while considering the sword Dao and other possible routes to erect a Divine Bridge.
• Titanium Twenty-Six reported that the Golden Man Clan’s Forbidden Land had left the Taichu World, so Shen Mo accepted it as a sect Guest Elder to protect it.
• Yu Yan fused his Divine Soul with a young cultivator’s corpse using seven soul-fixing nails, regained an outwardly human form, and thanked Shen Mo despite his lingering afflictions.

Shen Mo reviewed how the River-Facing Sect had reclaimed the Jade Pool Secret Realm and Spirit Void Immortal Realm, turning one into a source of wealth and the other into a rare cultivation sanctuary. The Mountain and River Realm remained inaccessible because the Soaring Serpent Strange Dragon still threatened anyone approaching its entrance.

• The Jade Pool Secret Realm’s time-distorted medicinal garden produced powerful extraterrestrial herbs that Shen Mo allowed the River-Facing Sect to sell, and he planted additional mother plants there for future harvests.
• Shen Mo searched Dragon-Falling Abyss for Evil Spirits but found none, then judged that they could serve as a barrier against outsiders trying to enter the Jade Pool Secret Realm.
• Shen Mo visited the Spirit Void Immortal Realm and found its exceptionally pure Primordial Spirit Qi made it a valuable but limited cultivation sanctuary for the sect’s disciples.
• Shen Mo split his cultivation time between the Spirit Void Immortal Realm and Chong’a Mountain to avoid draining the mountain’s spiritual energy and slowing the sect’s lower-level disciples.
• The River-Facing Sect could not reclaim the Mountain and River Realm because the Soaring Serpent Strange Dragon’s radiation would mutate its disciples, and Shen Mo rejected the burden of escorting them himself.

Shen Mo spent fourteen years strengthening the River-Facing Sect’s defenses and cultivating toward the peak Origin Core Realm. He decided to upgrade his physique Destiny first, postponing the dangerous aptitude upgrade until after he became a Heavenly Monarch.

• Shen Mo chose the River-Facing Sect’s Chong’a Mountain as the site for attaining the Dao, since attempting it in the Mountain and River Realm risked awakening the Soaring Serpent Strange Dragon.
• The River-Facing Sect’s leaders and disciples supported Shen Mo as he reinforced the mountain-protecting formation, which eventually became strong enough to withstand sustained attacks from Flower Fairy.
• After fourteen years of secluded cultivation, Shen Mo used the Primordial One Qi Art and his opportunities to reach the threshold of the peak Origin Core Realm sooner than expected.
• Shen Mo decided against upgrading his aptitude Destiny because doing so could summon a heavenly tribulation he was not yet prepared to face.
• Shen Mo spent his accumulated Destiny Points upgrading his foundational physique Destiny.

Shen Mo advanced his Body Constitution from Supreme Divine Fetus to Ancient Desolate Sacred Body and tested his new physical strength. The advancement triggered a blood-cloud battlefield omen warning that raising a basic Destiny to golden quality would bring a deadly tribulation, while Yuan Heming and Zhou Zhiwei mistook the disturbance for signs of Shen Mo nearing another breakthrough.

• Shen Mo spent 2,600 Destiny points before successfully advancing his Body Constitution to Ancient Desolate Sacred Body.
• Shen Mo fought the Evil-Eating Flying Centipede with only his physical body and confirmed he could match the peak fourth-order beast.
• Blood clouds revealed a battlefield of demonic gods, and Shen Mo realized that advancing a basic Destiny to golden quality would force him to face a deadly heavenly tribulation.
• Yuan Heming and Zhou Zhiwei questioned Shen Mo about the omen, and he claimed that cultivating a technique had caused it.
• After Shen Mo returned to his cavern abode, Yuan Heming and Zhou Zhiwei sensed Primordial Spirit Qi rushing toward it and concluded that he was approaching another breakthrough.

Shen Mo broke through to the Origin Core peak, draining much of the Spirit Void Immortal Realm’s spiritual qi. He realized that further progress depended on understanding the Dao and decided to travel and experience the world.

• Shen Mo drew vast amounts of spiritual qi into his cavern abode as he advanced to the Origin Core peak.
• Yuan Heming, Zhou Zhiwei, Feng Daogu, Gongsun Jiuru, and the other Origin Core Ancestors witnessed the secret realm’s spiritual qi surge during Shen Mo’s breakthrough.
• After two months, the Spirit Void Immortal Realm’s spiritual qi returned to normal, but its total reserves had fallen by thirty percent.
• Shen Mo recognized that he had reached the limit of cultivation below the Divine Bridge Realm and that further progress required finding his Dao Path.
• Shen Mo concluded that excessive cultivation could damage his Origin Core and decided to travel, observe the world, and seek Dao understanding.

Shen Mo focused on improving his cultivation methods and combat arts while advancing the River-Facing Sect’s interests. As his techniques reached perfection and evolved, new divine abilities emerged, giving him broader defenses and greater mobility.

• Shen Mo decided to invest more effort in immortal arts, martial techniques, and other disciplines rather than over-refining his true essence.
• Shen Mo’s Martial Drill Dao Body brought the Primordial One Qi Art to utmost perfection, then spent 956,000 low-grade Spirit Stones to evolve it again.
• Shen Mo placed the once-evolved Primordial One Qi Art in the Immortal Arts Pavilion so the River-Facing Sect could benefit and he could draw resources from its treasury.
• Several of Shen Mo’s other arts reached utmost perfection or evolved, and their Art Mastery Phenomena produced the divine abilities Unstained Though Steeped, Cloud-Thunder Wings, and Glazed Buddhist Flame.
• Shen Mo determined that Unstained Though Steeped could resist foreign powers, Cloud-Thunder Wings could propel him over a hundred li in favorable weather, and Glazed Buddhist Flame could defend against physical and spiritual attacks.

Shen Mo considered whether his transformed Origin Core strength and divine powers could let him defeat a newly advanced Divine Bridge Heavenly Monarch, even without the realm’s ability to borrow heaven and earth’s power. He left the Spirit Void Immortal Realm to test his newly mastered powers and returned to Chong’a Mountain, where he found Zhao Lingyin practicing with a spirit artifact he had forged.

• Shen Mo reflected on the Three Calamities and Six Tribulations and concluded that he might contend with a weaker, newly advanced Heavenly Monarch by overwhelming them before they could use heaven and earth’s power.
• Eager to test his strength against Aya Great Miluo, Shen Mo left his jade cave abode without disturbing the Supreme Elders in seclusion.
• Shen Mo flew out of the Spirit Void Immortal Realm using [Cloud Thunder Wings] and considered how the divine power could help him when his true essence was imprisoned or the weather amplified its strength.
• Shen Mo used the teleportation array to return to Chong’a Mountain and sensed Zhao Lingyin practicing nearby with the Myriad Dharma Treasure Mirror, a spirit artifact he had forged from Tu Rike’s body.

After reaching the peak of the Origin Core Realm, Shen Mo reunited with Zhao Lingyin and Mingyu, discussed the Mirror of Myriad Techniques, and assessed Mingyu’s Artifact Forging progress. He then invited the two women to Flower Fairy Valley to visit A Yao and Great Miluo.

• Shen Mo watched Zhao Lingyin and Mingyu practice, and Mingyu defeated Zhao Lingyin after the Mirror of Myriad Techniques drained her spiritual power.
• Shen Mo told Zhao Lingyin he had broken through to the peak of the Origin Core Realm and cleansed her with an immortal technique.
• Shen Mo asked Zhao Lingyin about the Mirror of Myriad Techniques, learned she disliked its spiritual cost and origin, and decided to nurture it with his Spirit-Heart Wisdom Endowment ability.
• Shen Mo resolved to wait until he was strong enough before challenging the Myriad-Eye Forbidden Land and hunting Myriad-Eye Demons.
• Shen Mo inspected Mingyu’s Artifact Forging progress, praised her fourth-grade skill with bead-shaped artifacts, and invited her and Zhao Lingyin to Flower Fairy Valley.

Shen Mo challenged Great Miluo A Yao to a spar beyond the Ninth Heavens and fought her with all his strength. After three days and three nights, he admitted defeat from exhaustion and injuries, while A Yao recovered from her wounds and praised his abilities.

• Zhao Lingyin and Mingyu watched the Flower Fairies dance outside Flower Fairy Valley while Shen Mo prepared to spar with Great Miluo A Yao beyond the Ninth Heavens.
• Shen Mo unleashed his treasures, Destinies, divine abilities, and techniques as A Yao defended herself with a rapidly growing tree and attacked with powerful spells and natural-disaster tribulations.
• Shen Mo endured A Yao's attacks for three days and three nights, but his depleted true essence and severe injuries forced him to concede.
• A Yao returned to Flower Fairy Valley, healed her wounds, and regrew her damaged wings before praising Shen Mo's formidable abilities.

After returning to Chong'a Mountain, Shen Mo prepared to travel alone, but the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Prison Heart Sword Master arrived seeking help with a deadly water ghost in the Sword Washing Pool. The ghost had killed disciples and left four Origin Core cultivators near death, while destroying the pool might require sacrificing the sect’s treasured Dharma Sword.

• Aya Great Miluo praised Shen Mo’s strength, and he thanked her with three taels of fresh Enlightenment Tea.
• Shen Mo returned to Chong’a Mountain, severed his formation’s connection to the Taiyi Sword Alliance, and continued trading with Hong Gu through trusted disciples.
• Shen Mo planned to wander the Red Flame Domain alone, but the Prison Heart Sword Master arrived with Jiang Yingying and other Heavenly Sword Sect disciples.
• Jiang Yingying told Shen Mo that Geng Zheng and Peng Chenshu had died, leaving only her, Shen Mo, and Chen Mengze of their former group alive.
• The Prison Heart Sword Master explained that a water ghost in the Sword Washing Pool had drowned disciples, killed Peng Chenshu, and drained four Origin Core cultivators of their blood.
• The Heavenly Sword Sect sought Shen Mo’s help because the pool’s evil spirit seemed impossible to eradicate without destroying the Sword Washing Pool, part of their treasured Dharma Sword.

Shen Mo agreed to help the Heavenly Sword Sect deal with the Sword Washing Pool water ghost and traveled to its mountain to investigate. After warning him of the danger, the sect’s leaders let him enter the pool cave alone, where the water ghost finally appeared.

• Jiang Yingying asked Shen Mo for help, and he agreed to make a detour to Jing Province to confront the water ghost.
• Three days later, Shen Mo arrived at the Heavenly Sword Sect with Jiang Yingying, the Prison Heart Sword Master, and others, and met its four suffering Origin Core Ancestors.
• Situ warned Shen Mo that the water ghost might kill him and that even destroying the Immortal Ridge Sword might not end the threat, but Shen Mo said he had ways to deal with it.
• Shen Mo entered the Sword Washing Pool cave alone after sending Sword Master Wuchen outside, while Daoist Golden Corpse departed after failing to banish the water ghost.
• Shen Mo waited beside the pool and sharpened the Taiyi Sword until the water began to churn and an indescribable figure appeared.

Shen Mo fought the Water Ghost Evil Spirit in the Sword Washing Pool, discovering that his attacks could weaken it but not destroy it quickly enough. He captured it in the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, and the danger warning from his [Cicada Sense] Destiny stopped.

• Shen Mo attacked the Water Ghost Evil Spirit with his sword and several divine abilities, but it quickly returned to its original state after each strike.
• Shen Mo noticed that [Supreme Excellence] weakened the Evil Spirit, but realized he might not have enough time to erase it before it vanished.
• The [Cicada Sense] Destiny warned Shen Mo that his lungs would fill with blood and kill him, but he considered ways to survive the curse.
• Shen Mo summoned the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and drew the Sword Washing Pool's water and the Water Ghost Evil Spirit inside.
• The pagoda's gate shut, its chains fell silent, and Shen Mo's [Cicada Sense] Destiny no longer warned him of danger.

While examining the water ghost Evil Spirits imprisoned in the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, Shen Mo entered a vision of a world destroyed by catastrophic disasters. He left the Heavenly Sword Sect with new insight, concluding that Evil Spirits might be the lingering resonance of a dying world’s resentment.

• Shen Mo studied the water ghost Evil Spirits and reflected on the mysterious materials and forces that allowed the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda to suppress it.
• Shen Mo suddenly experienced the perspective of the Heavens and witnessed a world overwhelmed by disasters, floods, and destruction.
• After returning from the vision, Shen Mo spent more than ten days recovering before leaving the pagoda chamber.
• Situ and the other four Heavenly Sword Sect patriarchs thanked Shen Mo, gave him spiritual treasures, and invited him to stay, but he declined.
• Shen Mo departed the Heavenly Sword Sect on the Evil-Eating Centipede and concluded that Evil Spirits might be the lingering resonance of resentment from a withering world.

Shen Mo realized Evil Spirits were fragments of the twisted will of worlds that had withered and collapsed, and suspected the Floating Immortal Mountain and other calamities had formed from similar remnants. He also understood that Heaven’s restrictions on powerful cultivators arose from the collective thoughts of all things, deepening his understanding of the Dao and becoming a Heavenly Monarch.

• Shen Mo understood that the thoughts of all things gathered to form Heaven’s will, which could become twisted when a world faced ruin.
• Shen Mo concluded that the water ghost Evil Spirit was a remnant of resentment from a collapsed world and that similar remnants had created other Evil Spirits.
• Shen Mo suspected the Floating Immortal Mountain was formed when the resentment of a decayed Buddhist world possessed a corrupted pure land.
• Shen Mo reasoned that the will of Heaven restricted cultivators because their power and actions harmed the rest of the world.
• Shen Mo grasped that forging a Divine Bridge meant connecting with the principles shared by heaven and earth, living beings, and all things.

Shen Mo spent three years traveling the Primordial Beginning Realm, deepening his understanding of Heaven and Earth until he learned he could become a Heavenly Monarch by swearing to protect the world. He rejected the vow because the realm would eventually decay and take his Dao with it, reaffirming his aim of transcending all things.

• Shen Mo reflected on three ways to attain the Dao: defying Heaven and Earth, conforming to its will, or forcing it to yield.
• After leaving the Heavenly Sword Sect, Shen Mo traveled across the Primordial Beginning Realm, observing its people, nature, and landscapes for three years.
• Shen Mo learned to hear the will of Heaven and Earth and sensed that a vow to protect the Primordial Beginning Realm would let him attain Heavenly Monarch status without tribulations.
• At a Spirit-Severing Land in Guang Province, Shen Mo rejected the protective vow because the realm's eventual collapse would destroy his Dao and cause his death.
• Shen Mo considered that Heavenly Monarchs in the decaying Spirit Ruins Realm may have tried to preserve their world, then reaffirmed his goal of carefree transcendence beyond all things.

Shen Mo’s attempt to impose his own Dao provoked the will of heaven and earth, unleashing extreme weather that devastated Guang Province and the surrounding provinces. After returning to River-Facing Sect and witnessing the disaster, he accepted the challenge and prepared to erect the Divine Bridge.

• Shen Mo declared his unyielding stance toward the will of heaven and earth, which answered with violent storms, hail, snow, and eruptions of magma.
• Shen Mo used his Azure Cloud Umbrella and Cloud Thunder Wings to fly through the unnatural weather to Chong'a Mountain.
• The extreme weather followed Shen Mo and ravaged Yu Province and nearby provinces for more than three months, causing floods, landslides, and mass displacement.
• Shen Mo ordered River-Facing Sect to aid the disaster victims, while local cultivation forces and more than ten thousand Flower Fairies joined the relief efforts.
• Shen Mo surveyed the devastation, challenged the merciless heavens, and declared, “As you wish!” as a terrifying aura rose from his body.