Chapter Summaries

Li Mo used a Night-Shining Pearl to get Song Baiyue’s carriage into the Hundred Flowers Grand Event, then stayed inside with Ying Bing as the performances began. After Tu Yan’s dance drew the crowd’s attention, Ying Bing realized Li Mo had deliberately tricked her into letting him rest against her legs while she cleaned his ears.

• Li Mo gave the purple-robed eunuch a Night-Shining Pearl, securing entry for Song Baiyue’s carriage and earning the eunuch’s welcome.
• Li Mo sealed the carriage curtains so onlookers could not see Ying Bing, while they watched the event from inside.
• The Hundred Flowers Grand Event began, with Ning Jue performing a Penglai celestial melody before Tu Yan’s dance stirred the audience.
• Ying Bing offered to clean Li Mo’s ears, and Li Mo turned around so he could rest his face against her legs.
• Ying Bing recognized that Li Mo had used her offer as a childish trick, while he insisted he would try not to move.

During the Hundred Flowers Festival, Li Mo distractedly attended to Ying Bing while the performances continued, then helped Blue Sweet improvise when she realized she could not perform her planned act. The chapter ended with Ying Bing trying to tell Li Mo a secret about Heavenly Human City as he accidentally bit her.

• Li Mo stayed beside Ying Bing during the festival, cleaning her ears while the crowd reacted to their suggestive conversation inside the carriage.
• Blue Sweet told Li Mo that she had already used her Tide Pearl and could not perform Fishing the Moon from the Sea.
• Li Mo told Blue Sweet to replace her act with a food broadcast, and she went onstage to eat hotpot and barbecue.
• Blue Sweet’s enthusiastic eating awakened the audience’s appetites, and Li Mo turned his attention back to Ying Bing.
• Ying Bing tried to reveal a secret about Heavenly Human City, but Li Mo leaned closer and accidentally bit her.

During the Hundred Flowers Festival, Li Mo and Ying Bing received a warning that the Heavenly Human had changed, then discussed the dangers and rules of the Heavenly Phoenix Domain. The festival ended with Li Mo being summoned to give a speech, while the Heavenly Human Trial still awaited them.

• Ying Bing found a hidden note warning that Her Highness was unusual and the Heavenly Human had changed, and Li Mo could not identify who sent it.
• Li Mo checked Ying Bing's recent experiences and learned that she would be trapped in Heavenly Human City for four years after entering it.
• Ying Bing explained that Heavenly Human City had three layers, each facing disasters and outside monsters, and that the cities competed rather than cooperating.
• Li Mo recorded the realm's rules, including that entrants took on earthling identities and the Heavenly Human Divine Sword went to the strongest person.
• The Hundred Flowers Festival ended, and a purple-robed eunuch invited Li Mo to give a speech.

At the Hundred Flowers Festival, Emperor Jingtai reclaimed the Heavenly Human Divine Sword from Li Mo and opened Heavenly Human City for everyone to witness the trial. As Li Mo reassured Ying Bing that the Imperial Capital was safe, black qi and a monstrous roar erupted from the palace, and the court learned the disturbance was in the emperor’s harem.

• Emperor Jingtai presented Li Mo with a gold-inlaid plaque, then signaled that he expected the Heavenly Human Divine Sword returned.
• Li Mo handed over the sword after jokingly asking Emperor Jingtai to make him a sworn brother of a different surname.
• Emperor Jingtai returned the sword to Heavenly Human City and opened its gates through the Map of Mountains and Rivers so the crowd could witness the trial.
• Huang Donglai gave Li Mo a satchel of prepared powders and other items, while Ying Bing wondered how Heavenly Human City had changed.
• Black qi and a beast’s roar struck the imperial palace, and the purple-robed eunuch reported that the disturbance had occurred in Emperor Jingtai’s harem.

Yuwen Cuojin’s attack threw the Hundred Flowers Gathering into chaos as Demon Summoning Cultists launched attacks across the Imperial Capital. Li Mo and Ying Bing identified the devouring insects, while Huang Donglai and Shang Wu became caught up in the disorder; Shang Wu was left confronting suspicious Heaven Patrol Guards.

• Li Mo and Ying Bing recognized the black insects as a manifestation of the Dao of Devouring, and Li Mo identified their leader as Yuwen Cuojin.
• Eunuch Gan said Eunuch Kun had gone to deal with Yuwen Cuojin and warned that an accomplice must have helped the cult infiltrate the imperial city.
• Demon Summoning Cultists incited attacks and assaults on women, causing widespread confusion among the guests and guards.
• Huang Donglai gave Lan Tian a medicinal face cloth, but the Heaven Patrol Guards mistook him for a demon cultist as the attackers suffered strange symptoms and Lan Tian’s face swelled.
• Shang Wu killed a Fourth Realm cultivator and challenged the Heaven Patrol Guards who eyed her warily.

Li Mo discovered that Lu Ziqing planned to awaken the Blood God's remnant sealed within the Map of Mountains and Rivers. The remnant broke free of the city's restraints and tried to bring demon cultists into Heavenly Human City as it sought a way out.

• Emperor Jingtai used the Map of Mountains and Rivers to forbid outsiders above the Third Realm from acting, abruptly suppressing much of the fighting.
• Li Mo spotted Lu Ziqing and learned that he intended to awaken the Blood God's remnant within Heavenly Human City.
• A disguised figure sang an ancient ballad, and Qu Songyun's chest split open as the Blood God's remnant emerged and struck toward Heavenly Human City's entrance.
• Duke Gan attacked the remnant with a lightning spear, but halted when it threatened the Map of Mountains and Rivers.
• The remnant forced Heavenly Human City's gateway open and reached out to seize the assembled demon cultists, intending to bring them inside.

The Second Imperial Ancestor Jiang Wen and the Blood God clashed within the Map of Mountains and Rivers, revealing the power each could wield over the Heavenly Fortune Dao Artifact. They agreed to settle the Blood God’s bid for freedom through the Heavenly Human Trial, leaving Li Mo and Ying Bing to face the consequences of the wager.

• Jiang Wen manifested an Eighth Realm dragon of national fortune to confront the Blood God’s sea of blood inside the Map of Mountains and Rivers.
• Li Mo held his ground with Ying Bing’s support as she explained that Jiang Wen’s Eighth Realm power relied partly on national fortune.
• Ying Bing judged the combatants evenly matched unless the Map of Mountains and Rivers fully favored Jiang Wen, while she and Li Mo wondered why the Blood God seemed so familiar with the artifact.
• Ying Bing relayed that the Blood God accused Jiang Wen of breaking his word and threatened to turn the Map of Mountains and Rivers into a sea of blood while taking the Heavenly Phoenix Domain.
• Jiang Wen and the Blood God agreed to wager on the Heavenly Human Trial: if Heavenly Human City fell, the Blood God could take the Heavenly Phoenix Domain; otherwise, It would leave on Its own.

After the imperial gathering, Li Mo and Ying Bing met Emperor Jingtai, who tested Li Mo by catching his sword bare-handed and then entrusted them with Great Yu’s mission in Heavenly Human City. He explained that Old Matriarch Yantian had recommended them and told them to wait at the Hall of Mountains and Rivers.

• After the rain cleared, the Heaven Patrol Guard inspected everyone at the gathering while the Map of Mountains and Rivers and Heavenly Human City remained open.
• Li Mo asked Huang Donglai whether the Heavenly Human Trial candidates would change, then followed a purple-robed eunuch with Ying Bing into the imperial city.
• In the imperial garden, Ying Bing found a wooden stick, and Li Mo played with it as a sword until he encountered Emperor Jingtai at the Peony Pavilion.
• Emperor Jingtai invited Li Mo to attack, caught his wooden blade bare-handed, and let him keep it after learning Ying Bing had found it in the garden.
• Emperor Jingtai revealed that Old Matriarch Yantian had recommended Li Mo and Ying Bing, then ordered them to wait at the Hall of Mountains and Rivers for their mission in Heavenly Human City.

Emperor Jingtai challenged Jiang Yu’s reasons for entering Heavenly Human City, then allowed him to go despite doubting his judgment. Li Mo and the others entered the city through the Map of Mountains and Rivers, where a new birth awaited them, and a remarkable purple-and-gold arrival appeared in the city’s skies.

• Jiang Yu asked Emperor Jingtai to let him accompany the expedition, but Jingtai exposed his rehearsed answers and warned that his Inner Scene reflected an unsettled heart.
• Emperor Jingtai eventually told Jiang Yu he could go, and Jiang Yu obeyed.
• Eunuch Gan and an elder activated the Map of Mountains and Rivers in the Hall of Mountains and Rivers, sending Li Mo and the others into Heavenly Human City as their memories faded.
• Li Mo heard a familiar voice promise to find him before he lost consciousness.
• Xie Xuan explained to the observers that entrants were reborn in different cities according to their talent, while the first arrival in Heavenly Human City streaked across the sky in purple light that turned gold.

Jiang Yu and Ying Bing descended into Heavenly Human City, where Ying Bing claimed the divine sword before renouncing the Celestial Clan and leaving. Emperor Jingtai searched the Map of Mountains and Rivers for the missing Li Mo and found a barren village.

• Jiang Yu descended into Heavenly Human City amid golden light, leading the Celestial Clan to hope he might claim its divine sword.
• Ying Bing descended in crimson light, and the Heavenly Human Divine Sword flew to her as the Celestial Clan hailed her as their destined ruler.
• Ying Bing regained her memories, renounced her Celestial Clan identity, dropped the divine sword, and walked out of the palace.
• The spectators noticed that Li Mo had not appeared, so Emperor Jingtai searched for him with the Map of Mountains and Rivers.
• The map's view passed through Heavenly City and Earthly City before stopping at a barren village.

Li Mo lived as an ordinary apprentice blacksmith in Great King Village, while onlookers in the Imperial Capital watched his unexpected life in the Celestial Trial. When monsters attacked the village, Li Mo went out to lure one away so the farmer and his granddaughter could escape.

• Li Mo remembered that he had transmigrated into a blacksmith in Great King Village, where his master had died in a disaster from beyond the city walls.
• Tu Yan, Shang Wu, Shang Qinqing, and Qin Yuzhi reacted to Li Mo's humble beginnings, with Shang Wu and Shang Qinqing plotting against the emperor before Qin Yuzhi suggested Ying Bing might find him.
• Several huge, intelligent-looking creatures approached the village, alarming the onlookers and prompting Huang Donglai, Zhong Zhenyue, Xiao Qin, and Murong Xiao to worry about Li Mo.
• A half-human, half-snake creature reached the blacksmith's shop as the farmer sheltered his granddaughter, and Li Mo told them to stay inside while he drew it away.
• Li Mo picked up his forging hammer and went outside, driven by the conviction that he was best at defeating the strong with the weak.

Li Mo improvised a way to imitate a human-serpent demon, gained its form and power, and defeated it before exhaustion left him surrounded by four more demons. A mysterious woman appeared and saved him, leaving him wondering who she was.

• Li Mo threw cow dung at a human-serpent demon, then fled into the forest as it pursued him.
• While running, Li Mo imitated the demon’s movements and transformed into a human-serpent with powerful primordial energy.
• Li Mo fought and gradually overpowered the demon, using cow dung to interrupt its call for help before killing it with his sickle and hammer.
• Li Mo returned to human form and collapsed from exhaustion as four more demons surrounded him.
• A mysterious woman appeared in the sky amid a spray of vermilion blood, and Li Mo wondered who she was.

Ying Bing arrived in Human City and stayed at Li Mo’s blacksmith shop after he survived the demons’ attack. The village feared the powerful Heavenly Clan woman, while Li Mo remained unaware that the fifty years ahead could make him old before they passed for her.

• Ying Bing’s arrival froze the demons and astonished the spectators watching the trial.
• The Fourth Prince, Tu Yan, and Princess Yuyang warned that Li Mo still faced the true test: surviving fifty years in Heavenly Human City as an ordinary man.
• The village chief and villagers climbed the mountain, praised Ying Bing, and knelt before her.
• Ying Bing said she would stay in the village and chose Li Mo’s blacksmith shop as her lodging.
• The village chief warned Li Mo to treat Ying Bing carefully, then remarked that her presence might protect the village from a disaster fifty years later.

Li Mo and Ying Bing grew closer as she helped him season grilled venison, while Li Mo resolved to teach his martial art to the villagers. In Heavenly Human City, Jiang Yu gained the Heavenly race’s support and began planning to use the Divine Sword’s power to establish their rule over the city.

• Ying Bing joined Li Mo as he grilled venison, seasoned the meat, and asked him to call her big sister.
• Ying Bing told Li Mo she would stay wherever he was, and he decided to teach the villagers a modified version of his martial art.
• Shang Qinqing and the Imperial Capital audience watched the scene before the vision shifted back to Heavenly Human City.
• The Heavenly race recognized Jiang Yu as their leader and advised him to train for the coming natural disaster fifty years later.
• After fighting demons and receiving worship, Jiang Yu realized the Divine Sword could grow stronger by absorbing reverence.
• Jiang Yu proposed making the Heavenly race the true rulers of Heavenly Human City and asked a companion to dye him a bright yellow robe.

Jiang Yu declared himself emperor of the heavenly clan and planned to bring Earth City and Human City under his rule. In Great King Village, Li Mo used martial arts Ying Bing had adapted for farming tools to win the harvest contest and inspire the villagers to learn.

• Jiang Yu told the heavenly clan that its strongest member should rule as emperor and proposed using Earth City people to govern Human City.
• The heavenly clan members accepted Jiang Yu as emperor because they did not want the added burden of ruling the cities themselves.
• Jiang Yu said Human City would seek the heavenly clan's protection when the disasters arrived in fifty years.
• Li Mo beat the village chief in an autumn harvest contest, then credited Ying Bing with teaching him martial arts suited to farming tools.
• The villagers eagerly asked Li Mo to teach them, and Ying Bing smiled as she watched him inspire the village.

Li Mo taught Great King Village the Thousand Forms Art, while the outside world recognized that Ying Bing’s adaptable martial art could transform martial cultivation. At day’s end, Ying Bing came to take Li Mo home, then asked the village flower to teach her how to mend his clothes.

• The villagers practiced the simplified Thousand Forms Art as Li Mo assured them Ying Bing had permitted him to teach it.
• Onlookers realized Ying Bing’s art could adapt to any practitioner and create a martial path passed down through generations.
• The village chief tried to match Li Mo with his daughter, but Li Mo said someone would come pick him up.
• Ying Bing arrived with tea and food, explaining that she had come because Li Mo had said he envied people who were picked up.
• Ying Bing offered the village chief’s daughter a popsicle and asked her to teach her how to mend Li Mo’s clothes.

Li Mo and Ying Bing spent years building a peaceful life in Great King Village, which grew stronger under the Thousand Forms Art. When Earth City envoys demanded ancestral tablets be replaced and most of the harvest be surrendered, Li Mo challenged whether their terms would let the villagers live with dignity.

• Ying Bing lost the way back from their pheasant hunt, and she and Li Mo returned home after collecting several frozen pheasants.
• The Map of Mountains and Rivers fast-forwarded through more than a decade as Li Mo became the village chief and Great King Village prospered.
• Jiang Yu's decrees spread through Earth City as envoys arrived at Great King Village with demands from Heaven City.
• Li Mo questioned why Earth City needed the villagers' grain and objected that the villagers would be reduced to livestock under the proposed terms.
• Li Mo placed a sickle and forging hammer together and asked whether they could let everyone live upright and proud.

Three Earth City visitors failed to force Dawang Village into their rule and reported its strange, demon-like martial arts to Feng Zhi. When Feng Zhi investigated, she sensed a Celestial Clan presence and found Ying Bing in Li Mo’s courtyard, while the visitors accused Li Mo of being the village’s ringleader.

• Li Mo rejected the Earth City visitors’ proposal, and the villagers of Dawang Village sent them away rather than surrendering their land.
• The middle-aged visitor warned his companions that Dawang Village’s people and Ancestral Hall seemed tied to demons, then decided to report the village to the Celestial Clan.
• Dong Erniu emerged from hiding after the visitors left and headed for the Ancestral Hall.
• Feng Zhi heard the visitors’ report and flew with them to Dawang Village to investigate.
• Feng Zhi saw villagers farming and hunting with strange, demon-inspired strength, then sensed a Celestial Clan presence near Li Mo’s home.
• Feng Zhi spotted Ying Bing hanging laundry as Li Mo came to help, and the middle-aged visitor pointed to Li Mo as the village’s ringleader.

Feng Zhi visited Ying Bing and Li Mo, warning that the coming calamity would threaten the world, but Ying Bing said the world she wanted to protect was at home with Li Mo. As Great King Village grew into Great King Town amid expanding threats and shifting political control, time on the Map of Mountains and Rivers slowed, marking the arrival of the first fifty years.

• Feng Zhi recognized Ying Bing, visited her home, and timidly introduced herself as Ying Bing's cousin.
• Feng Zhi warned Ying Bing that the coming disasters could become a crisis of life and death, and Ying Bing said she wanted to protect the world at home.
• Feng Zhi left wearing a floral padded jacket and warned the Earth City trio not to touch Great King Village again, even threatening Jiang Yu with the same treatment.
• Jiang Yu's Great Yu expanded across much of Heavenly Human City as demons and monsters increasingly crossed the city walls, while Great King Village grew into Great King Town.
• The Map of Mountains and Rivers showed time slowing, signaling that the first fifty years had arrived.

A coordinated demon assault breached the Human City's southern wall, and Jiang Yu ordered the Celestials to abandon the outer settlements and retreat to defend the Earth City. As the crowd condemned his decision and doubted Li Mo, Zhong Qin and others stood by him.

• Demons under organized command overwhelmed the southern gate, and a giant serpent carrying an iron-built figure appeared above the wall.
• The southern wall fell, and the Celestials withdrew to defend the Earth City as demons poured into the Human City.
• Jiang Yu said the Celestials would abandon villages outside the Earth City's jurisdiction to preserve their strength and secure the Heavenly Human Divine Sword.
• Princess Yuyang defended Jiang Yu's decision, while a woman in green and Zhong Qin criticized the Celestials for leaving civilians to die.
• Shang Qinqing and Tu Yan mocked Li Mo's aged appearance, but Zhong Qin declared his loyalty to Li Mo, and Huang Donglai, Xiao Qin, and Xie Xuan silently believed in him.