Chapter Summaries

After sixty years of fighting the Netherworld Forest, Chen Changsheng negotiated for it to save Xiao Hei, offering resources and a promise to help it once in return. Xiao Hei began a two-thousand-year recovery, and Chen Changsheng settled in to wait and grow spiritual herbs.

• Chen Changsheng chased the fleeing demon beasts until trees blocked his path, then left with Little Gold.
• After sixty years of battle, Chen Changsheng ate a fruit from Little Tree that restored much of his strength and healed his wounds.
• Chen Changsheng offered the Netherworld Forest a future favor in exchange for saving Xiao Hei, and it accepted.
• The Netherworld Forest freed Xiao Hei from the Longevity Bloodstone and began restoring him, saying the process would take two thousand years.
• Chen Changsheng gave the Netherworld Forest the trees and demon beast corpses he had collected, including an Eighth Realm Demon Beast corpse.
• Little Gold gave the Netherworld Forest a drop of its life essence, received a blood-red recovery fruit, and Chen Changsheng began preparing land for spiritual herbs.

While Chen Changsheng slept in the Netherworld Forest, Wu Li became a Heaven's Mandate Bearer, reshaped the cultivation world, and visited his sleeping teacher before leaving. Chen Changsheng later awoke, learned Wu Li had visited, and chose to put all his attribute points into defense.

• Chen Changsheng began a maximum-length slumber in the Netherworld Forest, and Wu Li later bore Heaven's Mandate and became invincible beneath the heavens.
• Wu Li subdued the Holy Ruins Forbidden Ground, placed a spear at the North Desert Buddhist Kingdom's lifeline, and announced cultivation realms while renaming Spiritual Power as divine power.
• Wu Li found Chen Changsheng in the Netherworld Forest, but the Golden Silkworm Gu stopped him from touching his teacher.
• Wu Li said he was leaving and had left gifts for Chen Changsheng, then warned the Netherworld Forest not to harm him and departed.
• After waking, Chen Changsheng saw the Golden Silkworm Gu's partly erased memory of Wu Li's visit and discussed his attributes with the system.
• Despite the system recommending that he raise Spiritual Power, Chen Changsheng told it to put all his attribute points into defense.

Chen Changsheng spent 750 years improving the Netherworld Forest, turning it into a thriving realm managed by intelligent rabbits. After Bai Ze recovered and had waited thirty years, it pressed Chen Changsheng to say when they would leave.

• Chen Changsheng explained to the system why he valued living freely over hiding away for millions of years to gain overwhelming strength.
• Chen Changsheng offered to improve the Netherworld Forest, and the little sapling agreed to his plan in exchange for a share of the profits.
• Chen Changsheng enlisted rabbits to maintain the forest and helped them develop intelligence, until they spread throughout the Netherworld Forest.
• Chen Changsheng praised Rabbit Eighteen’s management of the rabbit clan and arranged a congratulatory gift for its wife’s birth.
• Bai Ze confronted Chen Changsheng for calling it Xiao Hei and demanded to know when they would leave after waiting thirty years since its recovery.

After spending 4,130 years in the Netherworld Forest, Chen Changsheng left with Xiao Hei and learned that Wu Li had led the Three Great Holy Lands to ascend 800 years earlier. Discovering that forbidden grounds had also vanished, Chen Changsheng suspected Wu Li had encountered trouble and resolved to find him.

• Chen Changsheng decided to leave the Netherworld Forest, and Little Tree gave him a leaf to guide him back, Essence of All Things, and a wooden bottle.
• Chen Changsheng and Xiao Hei emerged from the Netherworld Forest in the West Continent and learned they were near Black Wind Mountain.
• Chen Changsheng learned from a wolf demon that Wu Li and the Three Great Holy Lands of the Central Court had ascended 800 years earlier.
• Chen Changsheng found the Central Court’s main hall empty and concluded Wu Li would not have left unless something had gone wrong.
• Chen Changsheng noted that the Holy Ruins Forbidden Ground and Desolate Ancient Forbidden Ground had also disappeared, then vowed to find Wu Li and the others.

Chen Changsheng reasoned that Fu Yao had left a clue to Nalan Xingde and found the former Yaoguang Holy Son’s grave in Butterfly Valley. Fu Yao’s stele revealed Nalan Xingde encased in a Longevity Bloodstone, and Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze prepared to carry him somewhere secluded.

• Chen Changsheng concluded that Gongsun Huaiyu would have tried to save Nalan Xingde and that Fu Yao, who owed him a favor, would leave a clue.
• Chen Changsheng took Bai Ze to Butterfly Valley in the Kunlun Holy Land, where he believed Fu Yao would have chosen to be buried.
• Chen Changsheng dug up Fu Yao’s grave and found a stele bearing a message that mocked him for grave-digging.
• Chen Changsheng erased the message and carved Fu Yao’s name onto the stele, which split open and revealed Nalan Xingde wrapped in the Longevity Bloodstone.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze argued about heroes and the Human and Demon Races before Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze to carry Nalan Xingde somewhere secluded.

Chen Changsheng restored Nalan Xingde and learned about the Holy Lands’ departure and a perilous path to heaven. Nalan Xingde set out to pursue his own cultivation path, while Chen Changsheng prepared to retrieve the bodies of those who had gone before.

• Chen Changsheng used the Essence of All Things to complete Nalan Xingde’s Embryonic Transformation and Bone Exchange.
• Nalan Xingde told Chen Changsheng that Gongsun Huaiyu had spoken of a woman’s arrival and the incomplete Lower Realm, and that Huaiyu had seemed resolved to die.
• Chen Changsheng took the Jade Slip Fu Yao had left behind, which described a narrow path to heaven usable by only one or two people.
• Nalan Xingde said he wanted to find his own path and avenge his wife, and Chen Changsheng opened his Spring Eye Realm before sending him away.
• After Nalan Xingde left, Chen Changsheng decided to collect the bodies of the others.

Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze entered the Ascension Road to recover the remains of Wu Li and their old friends. After collecting thousands of bodies, they learned that two girls ahead might have been beaten to pieces, and Chen Changsheng continued down the road.

• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze he was entering the Ascension Road to bring his old friends’ bodies home, and Bai Ze agreed to go with him.
• Chen Changsheng activated the ancient sacrificial altar, and he and Bai Ze traveled inside the stone coffin through its Light Gate.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze found the Ascension Road severed, which they suspected Wu Li had done while fighting a formidable enemy.
• Chen Changsheng collected thousands of bodies as he and Bai Ze walked along the blood-soaked road.
• Bai Ze smelled two girls farther ahead and warned that they might have been beaten to pieces, but Chen Changsheng continued onward.

After walking the Ascension Road for fifty years, Chen Changsheng found Song Yuanshan’s remains at the site of his final battle and shared a last conversation with his fading Divine Sense. He gathered Song Yuanshan’s ashes into their old Hundred Flower Wine jar, placed them in a coffin, and continued down the road.

• Chen Changsheng reached a Small World on the Ascension Road and entered after sensing an old friend’s aura.
• He climbed a Corpse Mountain after reading that the Invincible Daoist had slain 103,500 enemies in a hundred years without retreating.
• At the summit, Chen Changsheng reunited with Song Yuanshan’s lingering Divine Sense and argued with him about who was the senior brother.
• Song Yuanshan recognized their old Hundred Flower Wine, then recalled their deceased senior brothers before his Divine Sense faded away.
• Chen Changsheng poured wine over the Corpse Mountain, gathered Song Yuanshan’s ashes and Daoist robe into their old jar, and placed them in a prepared coffin.
• Chen Changsheng put the coffin away and continued along the Ascension Road.

Chen Changsheng said farewell to Wanyan Yue as she died in his arms, warning him about Wu Li and the Ascension Road. The road then shattered, dropping Chen Changsheng into a battlefield where Zuo Xinghe fought on despite horrific injuries and Wu Li was hurled from the darkness.

• Chen Changsheng met Wanyan Yue on the Ascension Road, learned that Li Niansheng had taken the two severely injured girls away, and showed Wanyan Yue the coffin he had prepared for her.
• Wanyan Yue lay in the coffin, and Chen Changsheng applied her makeup while they spoke about their past and whether Wu Li could succeed in unfolding the Lower Realm.
• Chen Changsheng held Wanyan Yue as she died in her Little White Wolf form, and she warned him that the Ascension Road was Wu Li's fate and that he should beware the schemes surrounding the Lower Realm.
• The Ascension Road shattered, and Chen Changsheng put Bai Ze into the Stone Coffin before flying through the immense pressure of the white space.
• Chen Changsheng reached a battlefield and saw Zuo Xinghe fighting with both legs missing and half his heart destroyed, then watched Wu Li fly out of the darkness.

Chen Changsheng survived the battle over Heaven’s Mandate and fell into the Lower Realm, where the world was changing as new lands unfolded. Grieving his fallen friends, he left Bai Ze behind and disappeared into the mountains, intending to wait until Fu Yao or Zhang Bairen became Heaven’s Mandate Bearer.

• Wu Li tore the Ascension Road in two, cast its pieces away, and sent the shorter piece toward Chen Changsheng before leading others into the darkness.
• Li Niansheng protected Chen Changsheng from two black-misted figures, while Hundred Defeats Immortal entered the darkness and sent Chen Changsheng a Heart Protecting Mirror and a long spear.
• The largest portion of Heaven’s Mandate split three ways, with one piece falling into the darkness, one reaching Zhang Bairen, and one going to Fu Yao.
• Li Niansheng put Chen Changsheng into the stone coffin and sent him falling into the Lower Realm as the sky split and the world’s hidden lands unfolded.
• After Bai Ze found Chen Changsheng on a barren mountain, Chen Changsheng said he needed time alone and planned to speak with Fu Yao or Zhang Bairen when one became the new Heaven’s Mandate Bearer.
• Chen Changsheng put away the stone coffin and vanished into the mountains.

Chen Changsheng tried to persuade the stubborn Thirteen to accept his help in redeeming Proud Snow Red Plum, but Thirteen refused and worked toward his goal on his own. When Zhao Ke moved to take Red Plum as a concubine, Thirteen tried to redeem her with his savings and was beaten by the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion's thugs.

• Chen Changsheng discussed with his system why he sought someone who could surpass a Heaven's Mandate Bearer, then went to the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion's back alley.
• Chen Changsheng offered Thirteen a bun and help redeeming Proud Snow Red Plum if Thirteen would ask him, but Thirteen refused and continued working.
• Gold Mountain City learned that Zhao Ke, the second Young Master of Gold Mountain Silver Sea Manor, would take Proud Snow Red Plum as a concubine.
• Thirteen tried to redeem Red Plum with the four taels and seven qian of silver he had saved over five years, but the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion's thugs beat him while he stared at her closed door.
• A figure upstairs watched as Thirteen's money scattered across the ground.

Chen Changsheng rescued the stubborn youth Thirteen after secretly watching over him for five years, then made a deal to help him grow stronger in exchange for a future favor. He named the youth Chen Shisan, whose injuries healed overnight, though Chen Changsheng told him his talent was exceptionally poor.

• Chen Changsheng stopped the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion thugs from beating Thirteen and paid them to throw him out.
• After Thirteen collapsed in a dilapidated temple, Chen Changsheng treated his severe injuries with valuable medicine.
• Thirteen tried to repay Chen Changsheng, but refused to sell his life or abandon his resolve to repay the debt.
• Chen Changsheng proposed helping Thirteen grow stronger in exchange for one future task, and Thirteen accepted.
• Chen Changsheng gave Thirteen his surname and named him Chen Shisan.
• The next day, Chen Shisan's injuries had healed, and Chen Changsheng told him that his talent was terrible.

Chen Changsheng accepted Chen Shisan’s determination to learn swordsmanship and gave him a basic manual. He then met Proud Snow Red Plum, who explained why she had kept her distance from Chen Shisan and revealed the sacrifices they had made for each other.

• Chen Shisan insisted on practicing swordsmanship despite Chen Changsheng’s offers to teach him other techniques, and Chen Changsheng gave him a Basic Swordplay manual.
• Chen Changsheng visited Proud Snow Red Plum at Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion and asked why she had avoided seeing Chen Shisan.
• Proud Snow Red Plum said she feared she could not give Chen Shisan the marriage and future he deserved, despite loving him and watching over him for five years.
• Proud Snow Red Plum revealed that four years earlier Chen Shisan had asked her to leave, but she had told him not to change himself for her.
• Proud Snow Red Plum said she and Chen Shisan understood that people had to rely on themselves, since even immortals could not solve every problem.

Chen Changsheng reunited with Proud Snow Red Plum and then began teaching Chen Shisan swordsmanship, learning that Chen Shisan could not read. After explaining why he chose the stubborn young man, Chen Changsheng planned to take him to the Northern Desert to strengthen his body, warning that the bald heads there would likely beat him because of Chen Changsheng's grudge with them.

• Chen Changsheng asked Proud Snow Red Plum whether she would leave or see Chen Shisan, and she refused, saying they had already met in their hearts.
• Chen Changsheng watched Chen Shisan practice swordsmanship all day before discovering that Chen Shisan had been following only the drawings in the Sword Manual because he could not read.
• Chen Changsheng admitted he should have offered to teach him and told Chen Shisan to call him Teacher.
• While they ate grilled meat, Chen Changsheng told Chen Shisan that his stubbornness was why he had chosen him, despite his poor talent.
• Chen Changsheng said they would leave for the Northern Desert the next day to strengthen Chen Shisan's body and warned that the bald heads there would probably beat him because they held a grudge against Chen Changsheng.

Chen Shisan learned that Proud Snow Red Plum would die rather than marry Zhao Ke, so he headed back to Gold Mountain City to save her without accepting Chen Changsheng’s help. Chen Changsheng lent him a broken sword, then privately admitted to the system that he admired Chen Shisan’s resolve.

• Chen Changsheng told Chen Shisan that Proud Snow Red Plum was being forced to marry Zhao Ke and would likely kill herself rather than go through with it.
• Chen Shisan immediately turned back toward Gold Mountain City, determined to save Red Plum despite Chen Changsheng warning that he could not defeat the Zhao Clan alone.
• Chen Shisan refused Chen Changsheng’s offer to help, saying he would not bow to fate or accept charity, even if Red Plum died.
• Chen Changsheng agreed not to intervene and lent Chen Shisan a broken sword, which Chen Shisan promised to return.
• After Chen Shisan left, Chen Changsheng told the system that he admired Chen Shisan’s stubbornness, then argued when the system compared their personalities.

Chen Changsheng confronted the Zhao Family during Proud Snow Red Plum’s wedding procession and forced its leaders to remain in the ancestral hall. He waited for Chen Shisan to arrive, watching to see whether hardship-free circumstances would test their resolve.

• Chen Changsheng ate the Zhao Family’s offerings while Zhao Tian, Zhao Kai, and Zhao Dan knelt before him.
• Chen Changsheng explained that he had come because Zhao Ke’s eighteenth concubine, Proud Snow Red Plum, was loved by his friend, who planned to snatch the bride.
• Zhao Kai offered to punish Zhao Ke and arrange a wedding for Chen Changsheng’s friend, but Chen Changsheng questioned why the family accepted his bullying without resistance.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Zhao Tian, Zhao Kai, and Zhao Dan to remain kneeling in the Ancestral Hall until his friend arrived.
• Chen Changsheng watched over Gold Mountain City with his Divine Sense Realm and wondered whether Chen Shisan and Proud Snow Red Plum would remain true to their original intentions without hardship.

Chen Shisan tried to take Red Plum from Zhao Ke, but was badly wounded by Zhao Ke’s guards. Watching from above, Chen Changsheng reflected on how cultivators abandoned their original ambitions as they grew older and questioned whether he had done right by forcing Chen Shisan onto a painful path.

• Chen Shisan offered Zhao Ke all his silver for Red Plum, then raised his Broken Sword when Zhao Ke refused.
• Zhao Ke ordered his guards to kill Chen Shisan, who was wounded as they overcame his crude swordsmanship.
• Chen Changsheng asked the system whether he had been cruel by letting Chen Shisan face the fight instead of resolving it himself.
• The system explained that cultivators often surrendered their original ambitions to survive, and Chen Changsheng recalled how Zuo Jing and others had changed over time.
• Chen Changsheng watched the wounded Chen Shisan and wondered whether guiding him onto such a painful path had been right.

Chen Shisan fought the Zhao Clan guards while Chen Changsheng waited to see whether he could awaken the Zhenwu Sword's Sword Spirit. Facing death in the sword's inner world, Chen Shisan spoke of meeting fate with the splendor of a setting sun, and the longsword resolved to become his first miracle.

• Chen Shisan used the Broken Sword to hold off the Zhao Clan guards but suffered mounting wounds and began to lose consciousness.
• Chen Changsheng told the system he had lent Chen Shisan the Zhenwu Sword to see whether he could awaken its slumbering Sword Spirit.
• In a dark space, Chen Shisan met the longsword's Sword Spirit, heard its past, and learned it did not believe it could help him.
• Chen Shisan said he accepted that fate could kill him but could not change him, and that even in falling, a person should possess the splendor of a setting sun.
• As Chen Shisan left through the Light Gate, the longsword decided to become his first miracle and shone with incomparable radiance.

Chen Shisan awakened the broken Zhenwu Sword and unleashed a devastating strike before collapsing, prompting Chen Changsheng to heal him and question the technique. After Chen Shisan recovered, Chen Changsheng mocked his weakness and explained the cultivation realms, while Chen Shisan headed back toward the Bridal Sedan.

• As Chen Shisan neared collapse, the broken Zhenwu Sword suddenly blazed with power, and its sword aura forced everyone within a thousand li to their knees.
• In a half-conscious state, Chen Shisan instinctively struck with his sword, cutting a bamboo chopstick in Chen Changsheng's hand and drawing blood.
• Chen Changsheng healed Chen Shisan's wounds with a pill and divine power, then wondered how Chen Shisan had managed such a strike as a mortal.
• Chen Shisan woke and asked whether Chen Changsheng had dealt with the unconscious people, but Chen Changsheng said Chen Shisan had done it and criticized his performance.
• Chen Changsheng explained the cultivation realms and told Chen Shisan that the Other Shore Realm was weak; Chen Shisan accepted that he needed to grow stronger and walked toward the Bridal Sedan.
• As Chen Shisan turned away, Chen Changsheng glared at the Zhenwu Sword as though warning it not to interfere with his plans.

Chen Shisan learned that Proud Snow Red Plum had disfigured herself to make him leave and move on, so he departed with Chen Changsheng. Their parting conversation turned to Chen Changsheng’s own unresolved feelings, and Chen Shisan’s new egg recalled the one that had saved his life five years earlier.

• Chen Shisan found Proud Snow Red Plum badly wounded, and Chen Changsheng told him she had slashed her own face and needed a doctor quickly.
• A Quack Doctor offered wound medicine at an exorbitant price, so Chen Shisan used Proud Snow Red Plum’s betrothal gifts to pay for it.
• Three days later, Chen Shisan asked why Proud Snow Red Plum would not leave with him, and Chen Changsheng explained that she had disfigured herself to reject him and help him start over.
• Chen Shisan accepted that he had to leave and asked what Chen Changsheng would do if someone he loved made the same choice.
• Chen Changsheng fell silent, then tossed Chen Shisan an egg and stormed away; Chen Shisan smiled, remembering the egg that had saved him five years earlier.