Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng explained how he would restore Bai Ze’s cultivation and outlined a new plan to undermine the forces that had manipulated him. He and Bai Ze headed toward Jiang Shan’s hometown to build up their defenses, while Chen revealed that Jiang Shan remained sealed away in Hundun.

• Chen Changsheng said he could restore some of Bai Ze’s cultivation by strengthening his body and using insights from the Water Book to awaken a new sense and potentially revive his Bai Ze Bloodline.
• At the Great Shang Dynasty Transit Station, Chen Changsheng used a Qilin Communicator to study changes among the world’s ruling powers without revealing that he was alive.
• Chen Changsheng suspected the Giant Hand had returned because the object they sought was close to appearing, but he rejected competing for immortality and chose to pursue another path.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that the Divine Beast lineage and the Forbidden Ground were trapped in the unfinished first stage of his plan, and he intended to waste five hundred thousand years of their efforts.
• Chen Changsheng said he would build up his means of self-preservation in Jiang Shan’s hometown and revealed that he had sealed Jiang Shan inside a clone, leaving him drifting through Hundun.

Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze left for Jiang Shan’s hometown to help him seek revenge, while Guan Ping and Lu Mingyu argued over the legacy of their deceased Teacher and the conflict involving Shui Yue and Wei Guang. Guan Ping withdrew to refine pills, leaving Lu Mingyu unable to resolve the dispute.

• Chen Changsheng insisted he would help Jiang Shan find and kill his enemies even if they had died, and he and Bai Ze set off for Jiang Shan’s hometown.
• After five days of travel, Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze reached the Epoch Boundary and entered the chaos, with Chen Changsheng tracking Jiang Shan through a Golden Silkworm Gu.
• Guan Ping told Lu Mingyu that people who had once despised Teacher now sought to profit from his legacy, and she believed Teacher would never truly die in her heart.
• Lu Mingyu asked Guan Ping to look after Shui Yue and the others, but Guan Ping defended Shui Yue and Wei Guang’s relationship and accused Lu Mingyu of having denied Wei Guang entry to the Tiger Guard.
• Guan Ping refused to persuade Xiong Da and Xiong Er, saying she would protect Teacher’s reputation, then left to refine pills for twenty years as Lu Mingyu wondered whether Teacher would forgive them.

Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze awakened Jiang Shan after more than eighty thousand years in chaos, and Jiang Shan asked for help pursuing his long-delayed revenge. As they traveled toward his hometown, Chen Changsheng insisted they investigate the massacre before choosing a target, and Jiang Shan asked to hear his revenge plan.

• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze awakened Jiang Shan, who learned that more than eighty thousand years had passed and that Chen Changsheng had caused his consciousness to fall dormant.
• Jiang Shan explained that his family had been slaughtered while he was competing with Mountain Beyond Mountain’s chief eldest disciple for the affection of a woman, and that he had been sealed after seeking power at Jian Fei’s rebirth site.
• Chen Changsheng promised to help Jiang Shan take revenge and traveled with him and Bai Ze toward his hometown.
• Bai Ze proposed destroying Mountain Beyond Mountain, but Chen Changsheng argued that they needed to investigate the massacre and let Jiang Shan hold his head high.
• Jiang Shan agreed that Chen Changsheng’s approach might be better and asked him to explain the plan.

Chen Changsheng laid out a revenge plan for Jiang Shan, targeting his former beloved and rival while pursuing clues about his family’s extermination. Jiang Shan explained that his home, the Greenwood Epoch, was a relatively small realm dominated by powerful bandits and the Great Song Dynasty.

• Chen Changsheng persuaded Jiang Shan to make his former beloved regret looking down on him and to reclaim his honor.
• Chen Changsheng said Jiang Shan’s former rival was the best lead to the truth behind his family’s extermination, and Jiang Shan agreed to pursue him.
• Chen Changsheng questioned whether Jiang Shan could face the powerful figures from his past, and Jiang Shan said he had the courage to do so.
• Jiang Shan told Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze that the Greenwood Epoch was known for its powerful bandits, had no large sects or clans, and was ruled by the Great Song Dynasty across a third of its land.
• Jiang Shan explained that the Greenwood Epoch was about one-tenth the size of the Chang Sheng Epoch, which contained hundreds of Great Worlds with top-tier Heavenly Mandates and thousands with ordinary ones.

Chen Changsheng revealed his plan to bring the Greenwood Epoch under their control within ten thousand years and chose Jiang Shan to rule it. He appointed himself Jiang Shan’s strategist and named him chief of Shui Po Liang Shan, leaving Jiang Shan uncertain about their unconventional group.

• Bai Ze dismissed the Greenwood Epoch as insignificant, and Chen Changsheng scolded him before asking Jiang Shan about its lands and worlds.
• After learning about the Greenwood Epoch, Chen Changsheng told Jiang Shan he planned to bring it under their control within ten thousand years and wanted Jiang Shan to take charge.
• Jiang Shan accepted the responsibility, and Chen Changsheng encouraged him to overcome his doubts and prove himself on the stage of his homeland.
• Chen Changsheng declared himself Jiang Shan’s strategist and named him chief of Shui Po Liang Shan, while Bai Ze negotiated to become the second chief.

Chen Changsheng explained that the Greenwood Epoch’s bandit-ridden Great Song could endure because its enemies were ultimately manageable, then revealed that he intended to gain absolute control of the epoch. After arriving, he told Bai Ze that he planned to use the Greenwood Epoch as the foundation for a Virtual World and began investigating the region before construction.

• After hearing Chen Changsheng’s Water Margin story, Bai Ze and Jiang Shan offered interpretations that he rejected, insisting that bandits must die and that Song Jiang had been right to accept imperial amnesty.
• Chen Changsheng argued that Great Song’s bandit problem was a hidden means of preserving the dynasty and said he wanted absolute control of the Greenwood Epoch, through cooperation or other methods.
• As their Transparent Bubble reached the Greenwood Epoch, Chen Changsheng split from Jiang Shan and set a one-month deadline for them to prepare separately and meet at an agreed location.
• After descending into an eastern mountain range with Bai Ze, Chen Changsheng said he had kept his plan from Jiang Shan until Jiang Shan was more capable.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the Greenwood Epoch was the safest place to build the vast foundational framework for his Virtual World, and he led Bai Ze out of the mountains to learn about the region.

In the Greenwood Epoch, Chen Changsheng explained to Bai Ze that the Virtual World Project would raise generations of powerful cultivators capable of eventually eliminating the top-level forces obstructing the world. He planned to fake his death and withdraw from the world so those forces would lower their guard while he pursued the project.

• Jiang Shan surveyed the western plains and decided to build a faction by robbing the region’s small bands of bandits.
• In Dragon Gate City, Bai Ze criticized the Greenwood Epoch’s disorderly defenses and complained that Chen Changsheng’s tactics had changed the Cultivation World.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the Virtual World Project served as revenge against the Divine Beast lineage and the Forbidden Ground, but admitted he could not prevent powerful experts from destroying what he built.
• Chen Changsheng said he planned to eliminate the top-level cultivators by producing far more powerful geniuses through the Virtual World Project.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that he would fake his death and withdraw so the Forbidden Ground and Heavenly Dao Society would focus elsewhere and leave the project alone.

Chen Changsheng placed a Thirty Million Divine Source escort order with the Weiyuan Escort Agency, demanding delivery of himself and a box to the Chief Bandit of the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts within a month. After leaving the money behind, he explained to Bai Ze that the enormous reward would attract escort agencies, bandits, and officials, setting the stage for a dangerous journey.

• Chen Changsheng learned from Bai Ze about Divine Source exchange rates and decided to offer the Weiyuan Escort Agency Thirty Million Divine Source.
• Chen Changsheng overwhelmed the agency with Divine Source and asked whether it dared accept his escort order.
• The Dragon Gate City Lord and other prominent figures arrived, and Chen Changsheng required the agency to deliver him and his box to the Chief Bandit of the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts within a month.
• The city lord promised Dragon Gate City would take only ten percent of the fee and support the escort, while the Weiyuan chief called on other first-rate agencies to join the job.
• Chen Changsheng left the three thousand Divine Source on the table and told Bai Ze that the reward would soon draw bandits and officials from across the region.

Chen Changsheng explained that he was using the Thirty Million Divine Source escort contract to identify and cultivate capable, loyal leaders for a new legion. As bandits and escort agencies converged on the opportunity, he challenged the Weiyuan Escort Agency to prove it could provide the top-tier protection he had paid for.

• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze he planned to establish a new legion because the Tiger Guard and Phantom were unsuited to conventional warfare and territorial defense.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the extravagant escort fee would draw out hidden connections and reveal talented people overlooked by the factions of the Greenwood Epoch.
• Chen Changsheng said conquering the Greenwood Epoch would require more than force, since destroying Great Song would leave the continent devastated for thousands of years.
• At Tianlang Stronghold, the chief demanded five hundred thousand Divine Source for passage and became interested in the valuable contents of Chen Changsheng's box.
• News of the escort fee spread across the region, drawing the attention of bandits, escort agencies, and merchants.
• At the Weiyuan Escort Agency, Chen Changsheng dismissed introductions and demanded to know whether the agency could safely deliver him to his destination.

Chen Changsheng negotiated extravagant terms for an escort journey, offering Divine Source rewards that sparked competition among escort agencies. While waiting for preparations, he watched Weiyuan Escort Agency recruits fight and explained to Bai Ze why the Greenwood Epoch’s cultivators had fewer resources and cultivation methods.

• Chen Changsheng demanded top-tier service from the Baitong Commerce Guild, including strict travel conditions and exceptional food, clothing, lodging, and transportation.
• Chen Changsheng offered Divine Source rewards for top-tier and first-rate escorts, outriders, menial workers, and accompanying personnel, but none for second- and third-rate escorts serving in other roles.
• The escort agency leaders accepted Chen Changsheng’s conditions and arranged to depart in two hours, with agencies scrambling to fill the lucrative outrider positions.
• At the Weiyuan Escort Agency, Chen Changsheng watched recruits fight while Bai Ze criticized their limited combat methods.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the Greenwood Epoch’s limited resources and lack of broad access to cultivation teachings restricted cultivators’ techniques and paths to the Dao.

Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze discovered that the Weiyuan Escort Agency’s servant Lin Yuan had cultivated a rare Quiet Orchid Flower, which Bai Ze ate. After Lin Yuan cursed them as an idiot owner and an idiot dog, the pair decided to nurture him, and Chen Changsheng unexpectedly recruited him for an escort run because of his manner of serving tea.

• Chen Changsheng dismissed the Weiyuan Escort Agency’s people as untalented and decided to watch the major escort agencies arriving from elsewhere.
• Chen Changsheng noticed a rare spirit medicine in the agency’s garden, and Bai Ze ate it despite Chen Changsheng’s warning.
• Lin Yuan discovered the flower was gone, identified tooth marks, and cursed the dog demon and its owner before leaving with the roots.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze decided Lin Yuan was a talent and agreed to train him after he insulted them.
• At the Lin Yuan Escort Agency hall, Chen Changsheng invited Lin Yuan on the escort run because he had a good manner when serving tea.

Chen Changsheng forced Lin Yuan to join his convoy and tested him with tea laced with urine, while Lin Yuan concluded that the mysterious man had exposed his plot and slipped away to strike first. At Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts, Xing Piaopiao denied knowing the wealthy stranger who had offered thirty million Divine Source, leaving the stronghold leaders fearing an attack by thirty-six escort agencies.

• Chen Changsheng ordered Lin Yuan to join the convoy and had him drink the tea and eat the pastries.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze discussed Lin Yuan’s ability to drink tea he knew had been contaminated, and Bai Ze warned that the young man was courting death.
• Lin Yuan vomited, guessed that the mysterious person had detected his Quiet Orchid Flower, and decided to strike first before slipping away from the convoy.
• Xing Piaopiao met with the twenty-six chief stronghold leaders and asked for their opinions about the mysterious person’s offer of thirty million Divine Source.
• Xing Piaopiao swore she did not know the mysterious person, leading the leaders to fear that thirty-six escort agencies would attack Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts.

Xing Piaopiao debated how the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts should respond to a mysterious person, while Jiang Shan struggled to recruit capable bandits in the Western Greenwood Epoch. In the Eastern Greenwood Epoch, Chen Changsheng gave Wu Fangfang a handkerchief to return to Lin Yuan, and its writing made her expression change.

• Xing Piaopiao heard Flying Dart Escort urge an attack and White-Faced Scholar advise caution, then ordered him to sound out the mysterious person and said she would write to Mountain Beyond Mountain.
• Jiang Shan fought the Desert Judge, who refused to submit and died despite Jiang Shan's repeated efforts to spare him.
• Jiang Shan resolved to assemble a force of battle-hardened warriors within a month and walked deeper into the desert.
• Wu Fangfang told Chen Changsheng that the convoy would soon leave Dragon Gate City's territory and meet the other escort agencies.
• Chen Changsheng asked Wu Fangfang to return a handkerchief to Lin Yuan, and she reacted with alarm when she saw its writing.

Chen Changsheng explained how he had maneuvered Wu Fangfang into targeting Lin Yuan, hoping to test Lin Yuan and cultivate his loyalty. That evening, Chen Changsheng trained with Wu Fangfang while Lin Yuan watched from hiding and condemned her.

• Chen Changsheng told Wu Fangfang he would answer her romantic advances after the escort run, and she left the carriage.
• Chen Changsheng explained to Bai Ze that he had made Wu Fangfang believe Lin Yuan knew about her secret relationship, expecting her to pursue Lin Yuan while leaving him a chance to survive.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze and Xiao Hei that he wanted to earn Lin Yuan's loyalty by offering him a bright future, rather than treating him as family or a friend.
• Bai Ze left the carriage after criticizing Chen Changsheng's approach, and Chen Changsheng joked with the System about being a beast.
• That evening, Chen Changsheng practiced sword techniques with Wu Fangfang by the bonfire as the escort masters watched.
• Lin Yuan watched from hiding and thought Wu Fangfang was dangerous because of her secret lovers and the people who had been killed in the escort agency.

Lin Yuan fought Wu Fangfang after she tried to kill him, revealing his Hundred Poisons Life Lamp and using poison to gain the advantage. As escort masters closed in, a young man with a curved blade arrived and destroyed Wu Fangfang’s right hand.

• Wu Fangfang slipped past the escort agency’s guards and confronted Lin Yuan, suspecting he had learned her secret.
• Wu Fangfang attacked Lin Yuan with unexpectedly fast swordsmanship, but he struck back and fled while she pursued him.
• Lin Yuan revealed that he knew about Wu Fangfang and Feng, then stopped running and summoned venomous insects to face her.
• Lin Yuan revealed his Hundred Poisons Life Lamp and used gathered poison to paralyze and attack Wu Fangfang.
• Wu Fangfang resisted Lin Yuan’s assault and taunted him as the escort masters approached, but a young man with a curved blade appeared and blew off her right hand.

Lin Yuan revealed that he had infiltrated the Weiyuan Escort Agency for Tianlang Stronghold, while the escort convoy descended into betrayal and slaughter. After the young chief of Tianlang Stronghold entered Chen Changsheng’s carriage, Chen Changsheng identified him, leaving their confrontation about to begin.

• Lin Yuan told the young saber-wielding man that he had obtained the defense map, and the man summoned Little Silver, who had recently reached the Immortal Venerable Realm.
• The young chief left Lin Yuan to deal with the armless Wu Fangfang and went to find the escort leaders.
• Hu Hai ambushed Wu Desheng and admitted that he had betrayed the escort alliance to seize Chen Changsheng, prompting the escort masters to split into opposing camps.
• Chen Changsheng bathed calmly while Bai Ze told him about Lin Yuan’s connection to Tianlang Stronghold, and Chen Changsheng asked Bai Ze to watch Dragon Gate City and keep Feng alive.
• After the fighting lasted through a day and night, the young chief of Tianlang Stronghold entered Chen Changsheng’s carriage, and Chen Changsheng recognized him.

Chen Changsheng uncovered the conspiracy behind the attempt on his life, spared Lin Tianlang long enough to flee with Lin Yuan, and confronted Dragon Gate City's City Lord. The City Lord began invoking powerful people above him as Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze demanded to know who had ordered the attack.

• Chen Changsheng showed Lin Tianlang an empty box, then revealed that he had killed the experts surrounding the carriage and forced Lin Tianlang to identify himself and his allies.
• Lin Tianlang revealed that Commander Zhao had contacted him, while Dragon Gate City's City Lord had spearheaded the plot against Wu Desheng and the Baitong Commerce Guild, which was said to be backed by Duke Who Pacifies the Nation.
• Chen Changsheng pierced Lin Tianlang's sea of suffering, disabled his Divine Power for twelve hours, and let him escape with the unconscious Lin Yuan and the white giant wolf.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze went to Dragon Gate City and confronted the City Lord, while Bai Ze beat him down and Chen Changsheng dismissed his claim that his office could protect him.
• The City Lord warned that people above him would retaliate if he was killed.

Chen Changsheng forced Gao Ming to write to the powerful figure above him, then left him alive as leverage for a possible alliance. He later explained his strategy to Bai Ze and confronted Wu Fangfang about her family’s deaths, leaving her to reckon with his claim that he had spared her to stop her from degrading herself.

• Chen Changsheng threatened Gao Ming until he wrote a truthful account of the events and agreed to send it to his superior.
• Chen Changsheng left Gao Ming alive and told him to stay put while waiting for the superior’s response.
• Bai Ze questioned why Chen Changsheng had spared Gao Ming, and Chen Changsheng explained that he hoped Gao Ming’s superior would repay the favor and cooperate.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze returned to the carriage, where Wu Fangfang and Feng Bao had awakened among the bodies.
• Chen Changsheng gave Wu Fangfang a coffin containing the remains he had recovered and told her that he had killed the bandits and traitorous escort guards, not her family.
• Wu Fangfang asked whether Chen Changsheng had known about her plan from the start, and he said he had spared her to urge her not to demean herself again.

Chen Changsheng killed Feng Bao but spared Wu Fangfang, then left her behind. Lin Yuan recounted how Bai Ze defeated him and Little Silver, and Lin Tianlang suspected the powerful black dog was not a dog demon.

• Chen Changsheng explained that he spared Wu Fangfang because she had not seriously plotted against him, but Feng Bao’s betrayal and past conduct made him kill Feng Bao.
• Feng Bao slapped Wu Fangfang, begged Chen Changsheng for his life, and dissipated after Chen Changsheng tapped his forehead.
• Chen Changsheng left Wu Fangfang behind and drove away.
• In the wilderness, Lin Yuan told Lin Tianlang how Bai Ze knocked out Little Silver, took and cracked the Hundred Poisons Life Lamp, and left Lin Yuan unconscious.
• Lin Tianlang said even Immortal King Realm experts would treat the Hundred Poisons Life Lamp cautiously and suspected Bai Ze was not a dog demon.

Chen Changsheng forced Lin Tianlang and Lin Yuan to choose which brother would live, then revived Lin Tianlang after Lin Yuan survived. He offered both brothers a different path by having them travel with him to the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts, where they could decide whether to serve him.

• Chen Changsheng appeared on the Lin brothers’ stretcher with Bai Ze and reminded them that their ten hours to escape had expired.
• Lin Tianlang begged for his life, and Chen Changsheng ordered the brothers to choose which one would survive.
• Lin Tianlang stabbed himself and made Lin Yuan kowtow to Chen Changsheng, while Lin Yuan accepted his brother’s sacrifice without blaming Chen Changsheng.
• After Lin Tianlang died, Chen Changsheng repaired his Sea of Bitterness and revived him.
• Chen Changsheng offered Lin Tianlang and Lin Yuan freedom if they still refused to serve him after reaching the Nine Caves and Eighteen Forts.