Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng admitted that a new God-Slaying Weapon he forged from an epoch’s resources had critically wounded the Wang family ancestor, and explained to Zhang Bairen why he chose invention over cultivation. Zhang Bairen recognized that Chen Changsheng’s creations made him unusually difficult for the Forbidden Grounds to eliminate.

• Zhang Bairen questioned Chen Changsheng about whether he had created a new God-Slaying Weapon, and Chen Changsheng initially denied it.
• Zhang Bairen argued that Chen Changsheng had developed the Bitter Sea System to keep cultivating despite his poor constitution, and Chen Changsheng acknowledged that Zhang Bairen had guessed correctly.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that his new God-Slaying Weapon had grievously wounded the Wang family ancestor and that forging it had exhausted his savings.
• Chen Changsheng explained that he preferred creating external tools because their power could remain available even when he was injured, unlike strength gained through cultivation.
• Zhang Bairen said the Forbidden Grounds feared Chen Changsheng because his inventions and survival strategies made it difficult to kill him permanently.

Chen Changsheng explained why he relied on external tools and told Zhang Bairen to avoid losing, then Dream defeated the Wang family ancestor by trapping most of his cultivation in a dream. The Wang family ancestor asked how Lu Mingyu had endured his attack, and Chen Changsheng said the ancestor had forgotten what it meant to climb the mountain.

• Chen Changsheng told Zhang Bairen that external tools could be replaced, while people could not, and warned that his revenge would be brutal if they lost.
• Zhang Bairen promised to look after Chen Changsheng if he became invincible under heaven, and Chen Changsheng restored the distant scene.
• Dream appeared before the Wang family ancestor and trapped his cultivation and divine abilities inside a dream, leaving him with only a fraction of his power.
• Dream explained that he had deliberately appeared to suffer cultivation deviation and leaked information to provoke the Wang family ancestor into awakening him through battle.
• The Wang family ancestor asked Chen Changsheng how Lu Mingyu had endured thirty breaths, and Chen Changsheng said the ancestor had lost the heart of a true powerhouse by trying to block those who came after him.

Chen Changsheng and the Wang family ancestor discussed the future before Dream sealed the ancestor in a Seven-Colored Bubble. Dream explained that the Heavenly Dao Society members had to repay their karmic debts to leave the Pill Epoch, and Chen Changsheng revealed that this obligation would help draw them into the Epoch War; Zhang Bairen offered to handle the matter while Chen Changsheng prepared to welcome his returning master.

• Chen Changsheng told the Wang family ancestor that he would support those who surpassed him, and the ancestor conceded defeat before Dream sealed him in a Seven-Colored Bubble.
• Dream explained that killing the Wang family ancestor could unleash a world-destroying battle, and said the powerful cultivators who wanted to leave the Pill Epoch had to repay their karmic debts.
• Chen Changsheng told Zhang Bairen that the Heavenly Dao Society's need to repay its debts would draw its members into the Epoch War and toward the Chang Sheng Epoch and Old Man Yao.
• Zhang Bairen volunteered to handle the matter and soothed Chen Changsheng's emerging heart of slaughter.
• Chen Changsheng declined to visit the North Sea Realm and said he would prepare for his former master's return.

Chen Changsheng visited Old Man Yao, who was sealed inside a cauldron, to ask about the Pill Epoch and its threat to the Chang Sheng Epoch. Old Man Yao warned that Chen Changsheng could not stop the Pill Epoch, but Chen Changsheng refused to release him and left determined to avenge Tian Xuan, Thirteen, and Scholar.

• Chen Changsheng entered the sealed space and taunted Old Man Yao, then sat down to ask for advice about the Pill Epoch.
• Old Man Yao condemned the Pill Epoch and warned that Chen Changsheng’s methods could not decide a battle against its strongest forces.
• Old Man Yao revealed that he had fought the Moon God to a draw while trying to take the Ten Thousand Years Bodhi Tree, and said she had hidden much of her strength.
• Old Man Yao said the Pill Epoch had watched the Chang Sheng Epoch for over a million years and that Chen Changsheng could not stop an invasion, even with Little Immortal Elder’s help.
• Chen Changsheng refused Old Man Yao’s offer to help and vowed never to release him because Tian Xuan, Thirteen, and Scholar had died because of him.

After the Book of Wonders Competition, Jun Lin parted from Wu Yang and resolved to focus on ending the Dark Turmoil. In a small town, Murong Xing Shuang urged Bai Zhi to return to his path as the Buddha Child, leaving their future together uncertain.

• Wu Yang declined Jun Lin's offer to help rebuild the Li Yang Dynasty, stayed in the Water Realm, and promised him a surprise if he returned alive.
• Jun Lin told Liu Yidao he would not return to the Water Realm until the Dark Turmoil was extinguished, then left with Wang Hao.
• Murong Xing Shuang told Bai Zhi she hated their quiet life and wanted to become an immortal like him, but then revealed that what she truly hated was him wasting his life on her.
• Murong Xing Shuang explained that she loved Bai Zhi but wanted him to save all living beings, and she handed him his cassock and monk's robes.
• Bai Zhi resisted leaving Murong Xing Shuang, while she insisted that returning to his mission was the path he had chosen from the beginning.

Bai Zhi left Murong Xing Shuang to pursue the path of saving all living beings, and she promised to live on despite their separation. Chen Changsheng revived her and heard her explain why she would neither rekindle their relationship nor cultivate, leaving him with her belief that he would eventually escape time’s Sea of Bitterness.

• Murong Xing Shuang urged Bai Zhi to choose compassion for all living beings, placed a Gold Thread Kasaya on him, and pushed him to leave.
• Bai Zhi accepted Murong Xing Shuang’s decision, called her a patron, and departed after his hair fell to the ground.
• After Bai Zhi left, Murong Xing Shuang collapsed in grief, and Chen Changsheng later revived her with a ray of golden light.
• Murong Xing Shuang told Chen Changsheng that she still loved Bai Zhi but would not rekindle their relationship because their paths differed.
• Murong Xing Shuang refused cultivation, explaining that she did not want either of them trapped in time, and told Chen Changsheng he would one day escape the Sea of Bitterness.

Chen Changsheng explained to Bai Zhi why he was forging him and Murong Xing Shuang into weapons against the Dark Turmoil, then advised Wang Zun to return Ku Mu to the Water Realm so love could heal him. He reunited with Su Wan'er and told her he could not fight in the coming Dark Turmoil.

• Chen Changsheng told Bai Zhi that Murong Xing Shuang would die if the Dark Turmoil was not stopped, and urged him to move forward without looking back.
• Wang Zun confronted Chen Changsheng about saving Ku Mu, and Chen Changsheng said Ku Mu needed to return to the Water Realm so Wu Du could return through the power of love.
• Chen Changsheng visited Su Wan'er at her Wooden House, shared a meal with her, and said he could not take part in the coming Dark Turmoil.
• Su Wan'er replied that the Dark Turmoil was a chance to kill more scourges for the younger generation.

Su Wan'er decided to intervene in the Chang Sheng Epoch after learning that her descendants would be targeted, and Chen Changsheng warned Yin Qi that she was coming. Fearing a scolding, Yin Qi and Qi Xianglan contacted Nian Sheng, who agreed to return after finishing her current business.

• Su Wan'er rejected Chen Changsheng's advice to stay out of the current affairs and ordered him to announce that she was coming out of seclusion.
• Chen Changsheng warned Yin Qi that Su Wan'er was angry and told him and the others to prepare for her arrival.
• Yin Qi explained to Qi Xianglan that only Chen Changsheng's fiery-tempered childhood sweetheart might be able to persuade him and Su Wan'er.
• Qi Xianglan used Yin Qi's secret communicator to contact Nian Sheng and asked her to help persuade Chen Changsheng and Su Wan'er.
• Qi Xianglan appealed to Nian Sheng by mentioning her grandson Jun Lin's marriage and Chen Changsheng's gifts, and Nian Sheng agreed to return after finishing her current business.

Yin Qi explained to Qi Xianglan why he was holding back the Undertaker while preparing for the final battle against the Forbidden Grounds. At Xu Mansion, Chen Changsheng recorded Xu Hu’s Ice and Fire Immortal Body as he compiled the Nine Great Sacred Bodies, and Xu Hu asked him to spare the children involved in the dangerous plan.

• Yin Qi told Qi Xianglan that the Undertaker’s decisive actions could endanger Jun Lin and the others, and that he would be needed to watch over the next generation after the mission.
• Chen Changsheng teased Xu Hu about his stalled cultivation and offered to help him pursue the Heavenly Mandate, but Xu Hu declined those paths.
• Xu Hu gave Chen Changsheng a Jade Slip describing the Ice and Fire Immortal Body and his insights into it.
• Chen Changsheng added the Ice and Fire Body to his records for the Nine Great Sacred Bodies and said each constitution needed its own cultivation method.
• Xu Hu asked Chen Changsheng to show restraint so the children would not die, but Chen Changsheng refused to let emotion interfere with their mission.
• Xu Hu asked whether he could enter the dangerous plan in their place and help the children suffer fewer losses.

Chen Changsheng refused Xu Hu’s request to save the children or die first, insisting that every powerful clan and cultivator must enter the final struggle. In the North Sea Realm, North Sea Heavenly Emperor told Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor that he had chosen to defend his home rather than retreat, and left his intentions unresolved.

• Chen Changsheng told Xu Hu that the plan was meant to strike at the Forbidden Ground’s heart and that entering the fight would not save the children.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the Chang Sheng Epoch needed a selfless heart and that softening now would waste generations of sacrifice.
• Xu Hu asked to go first and set an example, but Chen Changsheng refused because he needed Xu Hu for a critical moment.
• North Sea Heavenly Emperor told Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor that meeting the Undertaker had made him ashamed of considering surrender or retreat.
• North Sea Heavenly Emperor declared that all lives were equal and recalled how great figures had faced injustice without cowering.
• North Sea Heavenly Emperor questioned whether leaving the North Sea Realm would make him a coward after he had spent tens of thousands of years earning his position.

The North Sea Heavenly Emperor and Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor reaffirmed their convictions and chose to stand against the Forbidden Grounds, wondering whether Emperor Realm cultivators could truly be killed. Meanwhile, Wang Hao brought Jun Lin to the Netherworld Forbidden Ground and assigned Qing Yue to protect him before disappearing into the Blood Sea.

• The North Sea Heavenly Emperor argued that protecting the North Sea Realm was a matter of conviction, and Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor decided to preserve his ideals rather than retreat.
• The two Heavenly Emperors questioned how the Forbidden Grounds had endured and whether a same-realm Emperor could be killed, then agreed to seek answers from Undertaker.
• Wang Hao brought Jun Lin to the Netherworld Forbidden Ground and said the Nether River Forbidden Ground would strike the North Sea Realm first.
• Wang Hao summoned Qing Yue, a top-tier Asura Tribe warrior, and gave her to Jun Lin as his protector for the Heaven's Chosen Battle.
• Wang Hao vanished into the Blood Sea, leaving Jun Lin alone with Qing Yue.

Jun Lin tried to send Qing Yue away, but learned that Asura rules bound her to him, so he accepted her as a guide through the Netherworld Forbidden Ground. Meanwhile, Wang Hao recovered from his battle with Zhang Bairen and told Zhang Zhen that the Forbidden Grounds might have to flee the Chang Sheng Epoch because Zhang Bairen’s actions suggested he was waiting for a decisive moment.

• Jun Lin tried to dismiss Qing Yue, but she insisted on staying and explained that her purpose was to learn and die for the Asura Race.
• Jun Lin asked Liu Yidao for help, and Liu Yidao explained that Asura rules made Qing Yue his lifelong subordinate and suggested that she could be a powerful ally.
• Jun Lin reluctantly told Qing Yue to take him on a tour of the Netherworld Forbidden Ground.
• Wang Hao healed in a blood pool and told Zhang Zhen that Zhang Bairen had captured the avatar he had sent to fight him.
• Wang Hao predicted that the Forbidden Grounds might have to flee after the Dark Turmoil because Yin Qi and the others were sacrificing themselves to inspire hope in the Chang Sheng Epoch.
• Wang Hao reasoned that Zhang Bairen’s decision to watch from the sidelines meant he believed the current crisis did not yet require his intervention.

Wang Hao resolved to withdraw the Nether River Forbidden Ground from the Chang Sheng Epoch to avoid confronting Chen Changsheng, while Chen Changsheng began a divination for his children and their companions. Jun Lin gained permission to visit an island in the Nether River Forbidden Ground and met one of its powerful cultivators.

• Wang Hao told Zhang Zhen that the Nether River Forbidden Ground had to withdraw from the Chang Sheng Epoch before its roots took hold, even if they had to abandon it.
• Ao Chuang completed a divination formation, and Chen Changsheng reassured Xu Yao that he had never blamed her before sending her and the others into the dreamlike divination.
• Chen Changsheng warned the group not to use their cultivation during the divination, then sat guard while Little Wood and the others protected the formation.
• Jun Lin asked Qing Yue about the Nether River Forbidden Ground's island residents and decided to visit an island to gather intelligence for the North Sea Realm.
• Jun Lin announced himself to an island senior, received permission to enter, and met a refined man amid the island's treasures and spirit plants.

Jun Lin questioned the refined man about the coming attack on the North Sea Realm and learned that the attackers sought rare resources needed to survive and advance in the Emperor Realm. The man gave Jun Lin three treasures and revealed that he would lead the Dark Turmoil against the Great Shang Dynasty before sending Jun Lin and Qing Yue away.

• The refined man welcomed Jun Lin and explained that his forces planned to kill every expert in the North Sea Realm, devour about eighty percent of its inhabitants, and take ninety percent of its resources.
• The refined man showed Jun Lin a Longevity Bloodstone, Life Metal, and an unknown Spiritual Plant, explaining the brutal costs of acquiring and cultivating such resources.
• Jun Lin rejected the idea that Dark Turmoils were unavoidable and vowed to change the selfish state of the Chang Sheng Epoch, but the refined man challenged how he could survive and fight without those resources.
• The refined man gave Jun Lin all three treasures and told him to show the Spiritual Plant to Grandfather Changsheng.
• The refined man refused to reveal his origins, warned that he would lead the attack on the North Sea Realm with the Great Shang Dynasty as his first target, and transported Jun Lin and Qing Yue off the island.

Jun Lin reported the Nether River Forbidden Ground’s overwhelming strength to Chen Changsheng, who explained that the North Sea Realm’s destruction was likely and challenged Jun Lin to help find a way to win. After speaking with Jun Lin, Chen Changsheng reconsidered how harshly he had been pushing the younger generation.

• Jun Lin contacted Chen Changsheng and reported what he had learned about the Nether River Forbidden Ground.
• Chen Changsheng said the Forbidden Ground’s overwhelming strength made the identity of its representative unimportant, and predicted the North Sea Realm and its Heavenly Emperor would likely fall.
• Jun Lin asked whether the same fate awaited the Chang Sheng Epoch, and Chen Changsheng explained that the Golden Age Gathering was a contest whose winners would earn a glimpse of the cruel world beyond.
• Chen Changsheng invited Jun Lin to help find a way to overcome their likely defeat, then asked him to bring the Spiritual Plant when he came to the North Sea Realm.
• Jiang Bo Yue and Little Wood questioned Chen Changsheng’s harsh treatment of the younger generation, and Chen Changsheng agreed to encourage them after some time.
• Pang Hong remarked that Chen Changsheng had become unusually understanding.

Chen Changsheng discussed the lasting harm he had caused his former students and speculated about the identity of a figure in the Nether River Forbidden Ground. Meanwhile, Chen Feng learned that Chen Changsheng and Zhang Bairen had created a new Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System and became eager to master it.

• Chen Changsheng told Pang Hong and the others that he regretted the wounds he had left in their hearts, then told Miao Shi that the Nether River Forbidden Ground figure was likely a former high-ranking member of the Dead Sea Forbidden Ground.
• Lu Mingyu tried to persuade Chen Feng to let him join the coming battle in the North Sea Realm, but Chen Feng reminded him that they had assignments from Chen Changsheng and that he needed Lu Mingyu as his Dao Protector.
• Lu Mingyu revealed that Chen Changsheng and Zhang Bairen held the new Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System, whose first practitioner would make history.
• Chen Feng eagerly asked to learn the system, but Lu Mingyu explained that Zhang Bairen was too powerful to pressure and had nearly completed his transition to it.
• Chen Feng grew even more determined to learn the new system after Lu Mingyu described its power and his own fear of challenging Zhang Bairen.

Lu Mingyu recruited Chen Feng to help him investigate something after their mission, offering him a chance to obtain the Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System. In the North Sea Realm, Chen Xiao continued risking his life on body cultivation despite Chen Mengjie’s objections, while the North Sea Heavenly Emperor and Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor finally drew out Chen Changsheng’s Paper Figure Clone.

• Lu Mingyu lamented that Zhang Bairen had already pioneered the Emperor Realm path and proposed causing trouble after completing their mission.
• Lu Mingyu showed Chen Feng Sir’s Imperial Preceptor Decree and offered him a cultivation method for the Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System if he helped investigate an old acquaintance.
• Chen Feng agreed to help Lu Mingyu after they completed their mission, and Lu Mingyu predicted that their target might appear on their own.
• Chen Mengjie warned Chen Xiao that his body cultivation would kill him, but Chen Xiao insisted on pursuing the path he loved, and Cui Hao Yu refused to intervene.
• The North Sea Heavenly Emperor and Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor searched the North Sea Realm for Chen Changsheng and summoned his Paper Figure Clone by shouting across the realm.

Chen Changsheng explained how Emperor Realm cultivators differed in strength and why Heavenly Emperors at the same level could die fighting. He classified the North Sea Heavenly Emperor and Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor as lower-middle-tier cultivators and described cultivators who could surpass Heaven’s Mandate.

• The North Sea Heavenly Emperor confronted Chen Changsheng, who relented and asked what the two Heavenly Emperors wanted to know.
• The Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor asked whether Emperor Realm cultivators could die in battles against opponents at the same level, and Chen Changsheng said they could and predicted both of them would die in the coming battle.
• Chen Changsheng explained that nurturing a world generally produced stronger Emperor Realm cultivators than bearing Heaven’s Mandate, and said the two Heavenly Emperors ranked in the lower-middle tier.
• Chen Changsheng described how powerful Great Worlds and their Heaven’s Mandates were cultivated over tens of thousands of years, and explained that some cultivators’ strength surpassed the Mandate’s assistance.
• Chen Changsheng outlined his Immortal King Ninth Grade divisions and said cultivators who reached Equal Pace before entering the Emperor Realm had no need to fear any Great World’s Heaven’s Mandate.

Chen Changsheng explained how Heaven's Mandate shaped cultivators' strength and lifespan, and why the Forbidden Grounds avoided confronting those who bore it. He then described the Great Emperor Realm and how Emperor Realm cultivators could be killed, leaving the Heavenly Emperors with the threat posed by Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li.

• Chen Changsheng explained that Emperor Realm cultivators bearing a Great World's Heaven's Mandate grew alongside their world and could reach their peak after seventy or eighty thousand years.
• Chen Changsheng said that cultivators could enter the Great Emperor Realm through personal cultivation or by bearing the Epoch Heaven's Mandate, though the latter shortened their lives and took at least fifty thousand years to master.
• Chen Changsheng confirmed that more than ten Great Emperor-level experts existed in the Forbidden Grounds and had broken through through their own cultivation.
• North Sea Heavenly Emperor asked how Emperor Realm cultivators could be killed, and Chen Changsheng said attackers should target their True Spirits or Great Dao foundations.
• Chen Changsheng explained that exceptional cultivators could unleash power beyond their realm and named Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li as someone capable of shattering an opponent's Great Dao foundation.

Chen Changsheng warned the Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor and North Sea Heavenly Emperor about the many ways Forbidden Grounds could kill them, then accepted their cultivation insights and promised them coffins. Before they left, he tossed them two items and said they would grow powerful in the future.

• Chen Changsheng explained that Forbidden Grounds demanded mastery of a Signature Skill and warned that their surviving core forces would overwhelm the two Heavenly Emperors.
• He described how enemies could destroy the worlds supporting their Heaven's Mandate or exhaust them until they could no longer repair their bodies.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that he had killed a Peak Heavenly Emperor fourteen times while testing the limits of Emperor Realm cultivators.
• The Water Cloud Heavenly Emperor and North Sea Heavenly Emperor gave Chen Changsheng Jade Slips containing their insights and asked him to prepare fine coffins for them.
• Chen Changsheng accepted their gifts, then stopped them as they left and tossed them two items, predicting they would become very strong.