Chapter Summaries

Meng Qi watched the factions gathering in Divine Capital, detected four groups spying on Su Ziyue, and secretly offered Zhao Heng a place in Immortal Trace, but Zhao Heng refused to surrender his position as Imperial Prince. The chapter ended when the wounded Sun Yuexiu burst into Meng Qi’s room and asked him for help.

• Meng Qi noticed that powerful figures had gathered in Divine Capital over rumors of the Nine Heavens Ruins and settled into an inn courtyard with a Daoist with a Wood Hairpin and a woman in red.
• Meng Qi sensed four factions watching Su Ziyue but left without confronting them, then planned to strengthen the Su Family’s defenses against his enemies.
• Meng Qi reflected on the condition of his master and Little Junior Brother while observing the Daoist with a Wood Hairpin and the woman in red.
• Meng Qi visited Zhao Heng in disguise as Yuanshi Tianzun and offered him Immortal Trace membership, but Zhao Heng refused to give up his position as Imperial Prince and instead sought a limited exchange arrangement.
• Sun Yuexiu of the Biyue Sword Sect stumbled into Meng Qi’s room, wounded, and asked him to clean the blood and filth from her.

Meng Qi sheltered the wounded Sun Yuexiu, stopped a sinister sound attack, and received a summons from Gu Xiaosang to meet at Jinshui Bridge. At dawn, he left the inn after meeting Sun Yuexiu’s senior sister Ren Jingxiu, intending to prepare for his meeting with Gu Xiaosang.

• Sun Yuexiu treated her chest wound in Meng Qi’s room after escaping an enemy who had ambushed her with a Water Dividing Thorn.
• Meng Qi cleaned Sun Yuexiu’s blood from the courtyard, and she thanked him and offered him travel money and a promise of help from the Biyue Sword Sect.
• Meng Qi detected a sinister rhythm from a wooden board and struck at its underlying principle, causing an old man in a distant alley to spit blood and stop playing.
• Gu Xiaosang appeared through the contract and arranged to meet Meng Qi at Jinshui Bridge the next evening, while evading his question about whether she had spread word of the Nine Heavens Ruins.
• Meng Qi left the inn at dawn after meeting Ren Jingxiu, Sun Yuexiu’s senior sister, and set out to find Yuan Lihuo before meeting Gu Xiaosang.

Meng Qi learned that the two halves of the Nine Heavens entrance map had drawn competing factions into the Divine Capital, then met Gu Xiaosang at Jinshui Bridge. She revealed that she had staged the map affair to force Han Guang out of hiding, and asked Meng Qi to prevent the assembled factions from destroying the map so they could enter the Nine Heavens.

• Yuan Lihuo told Meng Qi that Bai Ning had given the second half of the entrance map to his brother Bai Chong, who was hiding in the Divine Capital.
• Yuan Lihuo asked Meng Qi to help find Bai Chong, but Meng Qi warned him that the hunt appeared to be a trap orchestrated to provoke chaos.
• Meng Qi spotted Sun Yuexiu, Ren Jingxiu, and other disguised experts on a crowded street, and Sun Yuexiu warned him to leave before a clash began.
• Meng Qi met Gu Xiaosang at Jinshui Bridge, where she teased him before revealing that she had arranged the Bai brothers and drawn the Nine Heavens entrance map.
• Gu Xiaosang explained that Mythos held the entrance fragments and that she wanted Meng Qi to stop the factions from destroying the map, forcing Han Guang to appear so they could enter the Nine Heavens.

Meng Qi joined Gu Xiaosang’s operation to capture Bai Chong and destroy the map to the entrance, expecting Han Guang to appear. Amid a coordinated ambush in the Divine Capital, Meng Qi fought off several powerful attackers and seized Bai Chong, leaving him facing Ziwei Star Lord.

• Gu Xiaosang told Meng Qi to abandon Bai Chong and flee if Han Guang appeared, while Meng Qi prepared to intervene.
• Sun Yuexiu and Ren Jingxiu spotted Bai Chong disguised as a gang member, and four attackers suddenly struck him from different directions.
• As Gu Xiaosang played her flute from a boat, Meng Qi leaped across the river and charged toward Bai Chong, knocking aside three attackers and driving back the Free Heavenly Demon.
• Meng Qi countered a surprise attack from a powerful assassin, then defeated the Blue Rank Assassin, Killing God Sword, with his sword techniques.
• Meng Qi seized Bai Chong with his left hand and clashed with Ziwei Star Lord, ending the exchange standing atop a fallen horse with Bai Chong in his grasp.

Meng Qi pursued Bai Chong to the Jinshui River, where he encountered Han Guang and escaped the Demon Master’s mental assault as the Divine Capital’s formation activated. Gu Xiaosang led Meng Qi into the Nine Heavens, while Han Guang and Gao Lan watched from another level and the Lamp-bearing Divine Envoy ordered the entrance map posted across the city.

• Meng Qi discovered Bai Chong had escaped inside a human-skin disguise and chased his blood trail toward the Jinshui River.
• Han Guang killed Bai Chong and trapped Meng Qi with his gaze, but Meng Qi broke free of the mental influence.
• Liu Shengming activated the Divine Capital’s formation against Han Guang, and Gu Xiaosang eased its restraints so she and Meng Qi could escape into the river tunnels.
• Gu Xiaosang used Meng Qi’s Thunder Mark and the Heavenly Court Boundary Tablet to take him through a deep pit into the Nine Heavens.
• Gao Lan met Han Guang in a palace on another level, while Han Guang revealed that the apparent confrontation on the bridge had been a deception.
• The Lamp-bearing Divine Envoy ordered his subordinate to post the Nine Heavens Ruins entrance map throughout the streets before dawn.

Yellow maps to the entrance of the Nine Heavens Ruins appeared throughout the Divine Capital, prompting the court and martial factions to mobilize while Han Guang and Gao Lan prepared to abandon the Heavenly Court fragment. Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang reached the fragment’s upper levels and entered the blood-soaked Peach Garden.

• Old Jiang and a Six Doors constable discovered a yellow map to the Nine Heavens Ruins, and copies appeared across the Divine Capital.
• Ren Jingxiu and Sun Yuexiu found a map and decided to alert the Biyue Sword Sect, but the city’s grand formation sealed the Divine Capital before they could send word.
• Cui Qinghe proposed sealing the city and leading grandmasters to explore the ruins, while Zhao Jingshi wielded the Nine Dragon Seal and Sima Shi took the Emperor’s Sword.
• Han Guang and Gao Lan discussed evacuating the Heavenly Court fragment and moving its important contents before outsiders arrived.
• Meng Qi used the Nine Annihilations of the Divine Firmament to break through the purple lightning gate, then followed Gu Xiaosang into the Peach Garden.

Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang crossed the blood-soaked Peach Garden, where looking back or stopping seemed fatal and the garden was draining their life force. As they reached the end, the Mythos opened a route into the Peach Garden, while Han Guang and Gao Lan noticed someone entering the Heavenly Court fragment.

• Gu Xiaosang warned Meng Qi not to look back, stop walking, or take anything as they entered the Peach Garden.
• Meng Qi resisted the urge to turn around when figures passed behind them and saw that both he and Gu Xiaosang were growing closer to death.
• Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang passed a dead Golden Armored Heavenly General who had looked back, then found Shou Xing's head embedded in the blood-soaked earth.
• A figure breathed on Meng Qi from behind, and he stabbed backward with Heaven's Wound as Gu Xiaosang sent her ribbons after it.
• The Big Dipper Star Lord and Xi emerged through a portal, and Xi said it led to the Peach Garden before they set out to scout it.
• Han Guang and Gao Lan heard someone enter the Heavenly Court fragment, and Han Guang looked toward the entrance.

Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang fought their way out of the Peach Grove, where Shou Xing’s shattered head contained an eerie blood-red peach. As they hurried toward their destination, Gu Xiaosang explained the Peach Garden’s connection to the lifespan of heaven and earth, but a blood-red peach appeared in the mist behind them.

• Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang fought off the Peach Grove’s vines and unseen pursuers while trying to escape.
• Meng Qi spotted a blood-red peach inside Shou Xing’s split skull and used his four arms to break free of the vines’ restraints.
• Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang escaped the grove, and Gu Xiaosang warned him that looking back into it could shorten his life.
• Gu Xiaosang explained that the Peach Garden manifested the principles governing lifespan and said she wanted to reach the Three Lives Hall.
• Meng Qi noticed a blood-red peach tentatively emerging from the mist beside them.

Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang reached the Heavenly Punishment Gate, where the lingering malice of executed immortals overwhelmed his mind and weakened his connection to Heaven and Earth. Elsewhere, Xi and Big Dipper Star Lord entered the Peach Garden, while Han Guang and Gao Lan pressed through the Heavenly Court’s defenses toward the Upper Three Layers of Nine Heavens.

• Meng Qi noticed the uncanny Blood Peach following him, and Gu Xiaosang said it might be an evil remnant from a previous epoch.
• Gu Xiaosang identified the misty destination as the Heavenly Punishment Gate and described its execution platforms and the lingering curses of the dead.
• Xi and Big Dipper Star Lord entered the corrupted Peach Garden, where a Yin Wind killed their Red Bird and Snow Ferret, and Xi left a warning for Han Guang and Gao Lan.
• Han Guang used the Heavenly Court formation to hinder Cui Qinghe and the Great Jin forces while he and Gao Lan advanced toward the Upper Three Layers of Nine Heavens.
• Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang reached the Dragon Slaying Platform, where its oppressive principles weakened Meng Qi and the lingering dragon thoughts shook his Primordial Spirit.
• Xi told Big Dipper Star Lord that the Heavenly Punishment Gate lay ahead and that Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang would not pass through it quickly.

Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang crossed the execution grounds toward the Thunderous Forest while Gu Xiaosang explained the Heavenly Punishment Gate and the Heaven Punishing Axe. Han Guang and Gao Lan caught up, but Dharma King Dushi intercepted them, giving Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang a chance to reach the treasure and return home.

• Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang passed the Dragon Slaying Platform and reached the Demon Slaying and Devil Executing Platforms.
• Xi and the Big Dipper Star Lord entered the Heavenly Punishment Gate and decided to wait for the Heavenly Emperor rather than attack Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang directly.
• Han Guang and Gao Lan arrived at the Peach Garden, where Gao Lan revealed that Shou Xing was dead and his head was empty.
• Meng Qi activated the Thunder Mark, and he and Gu Xiaosang entered the Thunderous Forest along the safest route.
• Gu Xiaosang told Meng Qi that the Heaven Punishing Axe had been born from the Heavenly Punishment Gate and that the Ancient Thunder Pool came from the previous epoch.
• Han Guang and Gao Lan caught up, but Dharma King Dushi appeared and moved to intercept them while Gu Xiaosang hurried Meng Qi onward toward the treasure.

Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang fought Xi and Big Dipper Star Lord near the Exiled Immortal Pool while Gao Lan and Han Guang struggled against Dharma King Dushi on separate paths. Gao Lan summoned the Human Emperor Sword, shattering the Heaven Punishment Gate’s suppression and startling Gu Xiaosang as the others pressed onward.

• Meng Qi recognized Xi as a Mythos member when Xi emerged from the mist and attacked Gu Xiaosang.
• Gu Xiaosang contained Xi’s fist, and Meng Qi joined the fight, wounding Xi’s shoulder before Sage Virtue diverted his sword strike.
• Meng Qi baited Big Dipper Star Lord into attacking and countered with Flowing Fire, forcing the badly injured swordsman to retreat.
• Gu Xiaosang trapped Xi in a cage formed by her ribbon and the void, then urged Meng Qi not to delay.
• Dharma King Dushi held Gao Lan and Han Guang back on the thunder and fire paths as they tried to cross the shattered void.
• Gao Lan summoned the Human Emperor Sword, dispelling the Heaven Punishment Gate’s suppression and drawing shocked recognition from Dharma King Dushi and Gu Xiaosang.

Gao Lan revealed the Human Emperor Sword, breaking the Heavenly Court’s suppressive laws and freeing Xi from Gu Xiaosang’s cage. Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang fought Xi to escape, and they made it past him after the strange peach knocked the corpse in the Exiled Immortal Pool back underwater.

• Gao Lan appeared with the Human Emperor Sword, dispelling the clouds of sorrow and breaking the laws suppressing the area.
• Meng Qi recognized the sword and, after Gu Xiaosang recovered from her shock, prepared to flee with her as Xi broke her cage.
• Meng Qi attacked Xi while Gu Xiaosang invoked Wusheng Laomu, but Xi used Divine Weapon Main Material to drive Meng Qi toward the Exiled Immortal Pool.
• A corpse surfaced in the pool and dragged Meng Qi downward, but Gu Xiaosang’s ribbon caught him and the strange peach knocked the corpse back underwater.
• Meng Qi reached the bank and prepared to attack Xi, but Xi grew wings of purple fortune and glided into the clouds, leaving Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang a path to escape.

Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang raced toward Three Lives Hall while trying to use Gao Lan’s memories of Yan Ran to awaken his feelings. At the hall, the mirror’s power revealed the past, and Gao Lan stopped Han Guang from attacking Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang by calling him his Second Brother.

• Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang fled through the Exiled Immortal Pool’s domain and discussed how its water could be collected, then Meng Qi asked about Gao Lan’s former lover.
• Gu Xiaosang revealed that Yan Ran had been a Xuan Nü Incarnation whose fated bond with Gao Lan had ended in her death, and she chose the path to Three Lives Hall.
• Han Guang and Gao Lan followed them, and purple lightning displayed words about love and identity that stirred Gao Lan’s grief over Yan Ran.
• Gao Lan used the Human Emperor Sword to break open Three Lives Hall and activate the mirror inside.
• Han Guang froze Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang as they tried to escape, but Gao Lan blocked him and called him his Second Brother, Han Guang.

Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang survived Han Guang and Gao Lan’s confrontation by awakening Gao Lan’s mad side, which forced the group into a temporary alliance to explore the Heavenly Court. As they prepared to search Three Lives Hall, Meng Qi arranged to leave afterward, while Gao Lan revealed he was deliberately keeping Han Guang cautious.

• Gao Lan called Han Guang his second brother and Meng Qi his third, then accepted Gu Xiaosang as Meng Qi’s wife and urged everyone to work together.
• Gu Xiaosang proposed searching Three Lives Hall first because it was the Heavenly Emperor’s palace, and Han Guang agreed to explore the Nine Heavens with them.
• Meng Qi asked to leave after exploring Three Lives Hall, and Gao Lan agreed while Han Guang continued communicating with him privately.
• Meng Qi surveyed the ruined halls and learned from Gao Lan that he was pretending to be mad to prevent Han Guang and Gu Xiaosang from joining forces against him.
• Meng Qi warned Gu Xiaosang not to mention Master Lu or Daoist Chong He, and Gu Xiaosang asked him to kill Yulong Zi if he ever saw her again.

Meng Qi searched the Three Lives Hall with Gao Lan, Han Guang, Dharma King Dushi, and Gu Xiaosang, hoping to leave before danger escalated. Gu Xiaosang opened a hidden passage and claimed two mysterious fruits while Han Guang took the Three Lives Jade Disc; Meng Qi concealed his interest in the strange tree and was left alarmed when Han Guang spoke of catching up to Lu Da and Chong He.

• Gao Lan, Han Guang, Dharma King Dushi, Meng Qi, and Gu Xiaosang searched the ruined Three Lives Hall and found no treasures besides the Present Life Mirror.
• Gao Lan took the Present Life Mirror, and Gu Xiaosang opened a hidden passage beneath its stone dais.
• Meng Qi descended first and discovered a strange green tree, a jade disc, and two mysterious fruits in the cave below.
• Han Guang claimed the Three Lives Jade Disc, while Gu Xiaosang carefully collected the two fruits.
• Gao Lan offered Meng Qi the tree, but Meng Qi declined and urged the group to leave.
• Han Guang said the jade disc would help him catch up to Lu Da and Chong He, making Meng Qi's heart pound.

Meng Qi fled Three Lives Hall with the Void Breaking Ancient Talisman after mistaking Gao Lan’s mention of Master Lu and Chong He for a sign that his Elder Brother would awaken. In the mist, he encountered visions of many possible future selves and wondered whether he had entered the remains of the Hall of Future Lives.

• Meng Qi used the Void Breaking Ancient Talisman to escape Three Lives Hall, though Gao Lan had remained goofy and was no longer troubled by Master Lu or Chong He.
• Gao Lan and Han Guang failed to stop Meng Qi, while Gu Xiaosang explained his sudden departure and then left to help him.
• Meng Qi glided through the mist, landed on solid clouds, and searched for an exit.
• Meng Qi heard bells and drums and saw figures resembling himself in different forms and circumstances.
• Meng Qi realized he had entered the place where the Hall of Future Lives had collapsed and wondered whether the figures showed his future or countless possible futures.

Meng Qi explored the murky reflections of possible futures, then found a root of the strange tree and fed it to the Great Dao Tree. Its sudden feast shook the world and began destroying places connected to the tree, while Gao Lan, Han Guang, and Dharma King Dushi discovered a bronze gate barred to anyone below the Legend realm.

• Meng Qi examined reflections of possible futures, rejected several grim outcomes, and wondered whether Xi had found a way through the Nine Heavens ahead of him.
• Gu Xiaosang descended into the murk, while Dharma King Dushi noticed that the fruit she had taken was strange.
• Gao Lan, Han Guang, and Dharma King Dushi entered an ancient gray-stone hall and found a bronze gate bearing a rule that only those in the Legend realm could pass.
• Gao Lan struck the bronze gate with the Human Emperor Sword but failed to damage it, then noticed the stele was marked with the name Jade Void, Yang Jian.
• Meng Qi found a root of the strange tree and pressed the Great Dao Tree against it, causing the tree to drain its connected branches and shake the world.
• As places crumbled and the vortex spun faster, Meng Qi realized his attempt to feed the Great Dao Tree might have caused another disaster.

Meng Qi’s Great Dao Tree devoured the strange giant tree and caused the Immortal Realm layer to collapse, leaving him to search the ruined Hall of the Past. There he uncovered strange teachings about reincarnation before encountering Sun God Lord Xi beside a colossal golden-robed figure, who attacked him.

• Meng Qi’s Great Dao Tree fed on the strange giant tree until the tree root withered, sprouting three branches with seven budding leaves as the Immortal Realm layer collapsed.
• Cui Qinghe led his companions back toward the bottommost layer, while Han Guang, Gao Lan, and Dharma King Dushi explored the ruined Grey Stone Great Hall and learned that the layer had collapsed.
• Meng Qi escaped the destruction, avoided the Present Life Hall, and entered the ruins of the Hall of the Past to seek clues about his past lives.
• Meng Qi heard ancient voices describing reincarnation and the soul, which made him question how past lives related to the self and how Ananda preserved his identity.
• Meng Qi saw the Fusang Ancient Tree and a colossal golden-robed figure, then Sun God Lord Xi turned and struck at him.

Meng Qi fought Xi, whose Five Virtues and Five Primes made him a powerful attacker with formidable defenses. After weakening Xi by repeatedly yielding and questioning his Sage Virtue and merit, Meng Qi stunned him with a saber technique and prepared to escape with the Ice Eye Crystal Soul.

• Xi attacked Meng Qi to silence him, and Meng Qi met his blows with his weapons and Dharma body.
• Meng Qi offered to end the fight and promised not to reveal Xi’s connection to the Sun God Lord, but Xi continued attacking.
• Xi broke through Meng Qi’s Star Burial River and badly injured him.
• Meng Qi questioned where Xi’s Sage Virtue and merit were as he hunted him, weakening the Exquisite Pagoda and Sage Virtue Water.
• Meng Qi used Only I Am Supreme through Heaven’s Wound to confuse Xi, then held up the Ice Eye Crystal Soul and said, “Bye-bye.”

Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang survived the Sun God Lord’s attack across ten thousand eons, and Xi fled after the Sun God Lord’s power entered him. They reached the Present Life Hall to recover, where Gu Xiaosang suddenly sealed Meng Qi’s Primordial Spirit.

• Meng Qi froze Xi with the Ice Eye Crystal Soul and retreated as the Sun God Lord awakened and attacked him across the past and present.
• Gu Xiaosang appeared and used the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss to weaken the Sun God Lord’s flames, while Meng Qi struck with the Yin Yang Seal.
• The Sun God Lord’s power faded under the passage of ten thousand eons, then entered Xi; Xi shed his mask, spat out burning blood, and fled.
• Meng Qi used Xi’s fiery blood to strengthen the Great Sun Flame Heart and found a Fragment of the Mirror of Future Lives nearby.
• Meng Qi and Gu Xiaosang went to the Present Life Hall, where Gu Xiaosang suddenly pressed a finger to Meng Qi’s chest and sealed his Primordial Spirit.