Chapter Summaries

Lin Tianlang led Shui Po Liang Shan’s campaign against the Northern Song Dynasty, using popular discontent and inside help to secure cities and expand Jiang Shan’s power. Years later, Chen Changsheng and Limitless Celestial visited the Northern Song court, where Chen demanded the names of former allies and threatened to kill everyone if Limitless Celestial refused.

• Lin Tianlang pledged to capture twenty Northern Song cities within a month by rallying deserters and routed soldiers.
• Twenty Northern Song cities surrendered after Shui Po Liang Shan spread accusations against corrupt officials, with Grand Preceptor Pang secretly assisting Lin Tianlang.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Grand Preceptor Pang had chosen Shui Po Liang Shan because its stable rule made its eventual victory likely, while Limitless Celestial accepted that Chen would kill him afterward.
• Shui Po Liang Shan conquered a third of the Northern Song Dynasty in less than ten years, and the Southern Song Dynasty later surrendered, leaving the Northern Song without hope.
• Chen Changsheng brought Limitless Celestial to the Northern Song court, where Limitless Celestial killed two guards and refused to reveal the names of his former followers.

Chen Changsheng obtained the list from Emperor Song, who agreed to surrender Great Song’s remaining cities and armies but refused to give up his throne peacefully. Jiang Shan’s army entered the Capital City less than a month later, bringing Jiang Shan to the final step of his long-awaited conquest.

• Emperor Song questioned the Limitless Celestial about his rise to power, the rebellion, and his disappearance, then asked Chen Changsheng why he had served as National Teacher.
• Chen Changsheng demanded Emperor Song’s throne and urged him to surrender for the sake of the people, and Emperor Song handed over the Jade Slip while refusing to surrender personally.
• The Limitless Celestial killed the attacking officials and the rest of the court officials, sparing Grand Preceptor Pang, who later ended his thirty-thousand-year service to Emperor Song and left the palace.
• News of Northern Song Dynasty’s surrender sparked celebration and dissent, but Shui Po Liang Shan’s army entered the Capital City in less than a month.
• Jiang Shan told Lin Tianlang to protect the imperial family’s children, then walked toward the Imperial Palace.

Jiang Shan faced Emperor Song in the great hall and reflected on the endless burden of power as they prepared to fight. In Jade Terrace Palace, Huoshuo learned she would be protected under house arrest, while Lin Tianlang told Chen Changsheng he no longer wanted revenge on the royal family.

• Jiang Shan told Emperor Song that supreme power led into Eternal Doom, but he could not retreat because others depended on him.
• Emperor Song rose and released his aura, declaring that he wanted to fight Jiang Shan.
• Lin Tianlang told Huoshuo that Anle would protect her, and Huoshuo accepted her fate and left Jade Terrace Palace.
• Chen Changsheng visited Lin Tianlang and offered him the chance to take revenge on the royal family.
• Lin Tianlang asked Chen Changsheng to spare Great Song's Crown Prince, explaining that he no longer hated the royal family or wanted revenge.

Chen Changsheng confronted Lin Tianlang over his treatment of Great Song’s royal family and the discipline of his army, then spoke with the Limitless Celestial about what had led to his death. The Limitless Celestial accepted that the rise of Chen Changsheng and the Bitter Sea System had left him with no future, while Chen Changsheng remained uncertain about what barriers he might face himself.

• Lin Tianlang told Chen Changsheng that he would keep the Crown Prince alive in terror rather than kill him for his family’s extermination.
• Chen Changsheng explained that preserving Great Song’s imperial family would help secure the realm, but said he would support Lin Tianlang if he chose revenge instead.
• Chen Changsheng warned Lin Tianlang to restore discipline in the capital within three days or face punishment.
• At the Epoch Boundary, the Limitless Celestial asked Chen Changsheng who had killed him, and Chen Changsheng answered that having no future had been the cause.
• The Limitless Celestial concluded that the Bitter Sea System and Chen Changsheng’s rise had made the Golden Core System’s future impossible, and admitted that he had ultimately killed himself.

After defeating Emperor Song and ending the Great Song Dynasty’s rule, Jiang Shan confronted the Limitless Celestial over their competing cultivation systems. The Limitless Celestial admitted the golden core system lacked the hope the bitter sea system gave people like Anle, leaving their battle about to begin.

• Jiang Shan defeated and suppressed Emperor Song after a month-long battle, ending the Great Song Dynasty’s rule.
• Ten years later, Jiang Shan met the Limitless Celestial at the Epoch Boundary and said their coming fight was a clash between the golden core and bitter sea systems, not a personal grudge.
• Chen Changsheng confirmed that he had arranged magical artifacts to preserve the battle’s footage, while Bai Ze stood nearby.
• The Limitless Celestial argued that the golden core system conserved life, while the bitter sea system exhausted it; Jiang Shan countered that bitter sea cultivators lived longer and that the golden core system depended too much on talent.
• Jiang Shan argued that the Limitless Celestial feared the White-Haired Sword God because the Sword God’s victory would shatter his belief in talent and leave the golden core system without hope.
• The Limitless Celestial conceded that the golden core system could not give hope to someone like Anle, who had regained the hope of cultivation through the bitter sea system.

Jiang Shan discussed the limits of the golden core and bitter sea cultivation systems with the Limitless Celestial, who then tested him with a sword formation. The Limitless Celestial urged Jiang Shan to master the bitter sea system’s mysteries rather than rush to raise his realm.

• The Limitless Celestial argued that the bitter sea system demanded relentless cultivation while Jiang Shan defended the value of living well without pursuing impossible immortality.
• Jiang Shan revealed that he had reached the fourth heaven of the quasi-emperor realm, and the Limitless Celestial said his cultivation had been rushed and that he himself was now only in the mortal shedding realm.
• As the Limitless Celestial changed form, he told Jiang Shan that the Holy Ruins Forbidden Ground’s cultivators had been worn down after abandoning their advantages and switching systems too hastily.
• The Limitless Celestial attacked Jiang Shan with a seventy-two-sword formation while explaining that understanding a cultivation system mattered more than realm or accumulated divine power.
• Jiang Shan recognized the lesson, and the Limitless Celestial praised his understanding as Jiang Shan fought through the sword formation.

Jiang Shan and the Limitless Celestial fought while discussing the strengths and evolution of the Bitter Sea System. The Limitless Celestial asked Jiang Shan to explain how Bitter Sea cultivators comprehended laws, leaving their contest ongoing.

• The Limitless Celestial explained how magical artifacts could be damaged, while Jiang Shan broke through the Sword Formation but was blasted back by Black Flame.
• Jiang Shan used the Bitter Sea Phenomenon to extinguish the Black Flame, then summoned his Crystal Life Lamp to repel Demonic Elephants and destroy the Limitless Celestial's Flying Swords.
• The Limitless Celestial described how the Life Lamp countered mental cultivation and Divine Sense Realm-refined artifacts, and Jiang Shan explained how Mind Dao and martial arts had developed in response.
• Jiang Shan outlined the Divine Realm and the later Immortal Venerable realms, and the Limitless Celestial asked how Bitter Sea law comprehension differed from other systems.
• Jiang Shan said other systems copied laws through the Divine Sense Realm, while Bitter Sea cultivators imprinted laws into their bodies, requiring both physical and spiritual strength.

Jiang Shan and the Limitless Celestial fought as Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze discussed why the Void Battlefield favored Bitter Sea cultivators and why the Limitless Celestial had remained at Peak Heavenly Emperor. Chen Changsheng expected Jiang Shan to win if he endured the first five hundred years, then went to sleep while Bai Ze recorded the battle.

• The Limitless Celestial explained that Bitter Sea cultivators could absorb many forms of energy and wield their own laws in chaos, while Golden Core cultivators were weakened there.
• The Limitless Celestial challenged Jiang Shan to prove which cultivation system was stronger, then attacked him with a Great Seal as Jiang Shan struck back with a punch.
• Bai Ze observed that the Limitless Celestial seemed no stronger than Peak Heavenly Emperor, and Chen Changsheng explained that he had refused the Greenwood Epoch's Heavenly Mandate and entry into the Great Emperor Realm.
• Chen Changsheng said the Limitless Celestial lacked a path to the Golden Core System's tenth realm and predicted Jiang Shan would win if he lasted through the first five hundred years.
• Chen Changsheng asked Bai Ze to protect the Recording Stone, then went to sleep while Bai Ze began recording the battle.

Jiang Shan defeated Limitless Celestial after a nine-hundred-year battle, while Chen Changsheng witnessed Limitless Celestial’s death and then departed with Bai Ze. Jiang Shan returned to the Capital City as victor and forbade anyone from mentioning Chen Changsheng, leaving the people stunned by his sudden departure.

• Jiang Shan crushed Limitless Celestial’s heart, and the dying Limitless Celestial asked Chen Changsheng to remember him before he died on a meteorite.
• Chen Changsheng told Jiang Shan to recover and handle the Greenwood Epoch’s affairs, then left with Bai Ze and instructed Jiang Shan to bury Limitless Celestial at the Epoch Boundary.
• Jiang Shan returned to the Capital City after more than eight hundred years, and Lin Yuan and the others congratulated him on his victory.
• Jiang Shan announced that Chen Changsheng had left and ordered that no one mention him, threatening death to anyone who disobeyed.

Chen Changsheng celebrated the coming Golden Age and explained why he expected the Chang Sheng Epoch’s old powers to remain distracted, while considering how to remove the Pill Epoch’s entrenched experts without confronting Dream. In the Pill Tower, Lu Mingyu endured Guan Ping’s insistence that he take an elixir, hoping his teacher would return soon.

• Jiang Shan ordered Lin Yuan to erase Chen Changsheng’s traces and insisted that only the two of them had unified the Greenwood Epoch; Lin Yuan asked whether they would see Young Master again.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that the withdrawn Forbidden Grounds and silent old powers left the Chang Sheng Epoch poised for an unprecedented Golden Age.
• Chen Changsheng reasoned that the old powers would be distracted by the search for Chang Sheng, but worried that Dream’s influence made the Pill Epoch harder to handle.
• Bai Ze warned Chen Changsheng not to provoke Dream, and Chen Changsheng agreed to seek a way to drive out the Pill Epoch’s experts without starting a war.
• Guan Ping insisted that Lu Mingyu drink an elixir to silence gossip about her pregnancy, while Lu Mingyu silently hoped his teacher would return.

Chen Changsheng returned to the Chang Sheng Epoch with Bai Ze and planned to assess the world and recruit allies for his Virtual World project without revealing his identity. After disguising himself with swarms of Gold Devouring Insects, he and Bai Ze reached Bai Ze Continent, where Chen Changsheng found that mortals had embraced the Bai Ze Clan as objects of totem worship.

• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze returned to the Chang Sheng Epoch, and Chen Changsheng planned to examine the world and seek support from Xu Qianzhui, Jun Lin, and others for the Virtual World.
• Chen Changsheng explained that his Golden Silkworm Gu had become a swarm of Gold Devouring Insects, though he was uncertain whether it had completed its third transformation.
• Chen Changsheng covered himself with Gold Devouring Insects to disguise his appearance and reduce the risk of his identity being exposed.
• Chen Changsheng promised Bai Ze he could achieve about ninety-five percent ancestral bloodline reversion and restore Bai Ze's former Innate Divine Ability if they found the crucial item.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze arrived at Bai Ze Continent, where Xiao Hei saw mortals selling Bai Ze portraits and goods.
• Chen Changsheng explained to Xiao Hei that promoting Bai Ze totem worship strengthened the bond between mortals and cultivators.

Chen Changsheng explained to Xiao Hei that the Bai Ze Clan’s outdated breeding and child-rearing customs were driving it toward extinction, and argued that the Divine Beast lineage was adapting by adopting Human Race methods. He took Xiao Hei to the Bai Ze Continent, where Xiao Hei discovered that the clan had opened an Imperial Tutor Training Class to recruit Undertakers.

• Chen Changsheng told Xiao Hei that the Bai Ze Clan’s population was declining because few were born and many died, and proposed using Human Race breeding methods to preserve it.
• Chen Changsheng criticized the Bai Ze Clan for leaving eggs unattended and failing to raise its young, and said the Divine Beast lineage was gradually abandoning old customs.
• Chen Changsheng paid for the meal and transported Xiao Hei to the Bai Ze Continent’s Imperial Tutor Training Class.
• A Bai Ze recruiter mistook Xiao Hei for a lost clansman, claimed him as family, and tried to bring him inside.
• The recruiter explained that the Bai Ze Clan had run the Imperial Tutor Training Class for two thousand years to train living beings to contract with the clan as Undertakers.

Chen Changsheng and Xiao Hei learned that the Bai Ze Clan had begun offering Imperial Tutor training classes and forming partnerships with humans as part of the wider reforms. Chen Changsheng explained that the Qilin Communicator was the missing link needed to connect the developed epochs with places to trade their surplus resources.

• Tao Baibai explained to Xiao Hei that the Bai Ze Clan marketed the spirits behind the titles of Imperial Tutor and Undertaker to attract customers.
• Tao Baibai said the Bai Ze Clan had become more open to partnering with humans so its members could travel more safely and avoid conflicts between races.
• Chen Changsheng arrived, and Tao Baibai offered him a place in the advanced training class and gave him a business card.
• Chen Changsheng told Xiao Hei that his fake death had stalled reform, though the myriad races had continued advancing to preserve their investments.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that the Qilin Communicator was the crucial missing link because it could transmit across epochs and provide a marketplace for their surplus resources.

Chen Changsheng brought Xiao Hei to the Bai Ze Clan to help him reclaim the bloodline power he had left behind and to improve the clan’s commercial prospects. Xiao Hei was accepted as a high-ranking Bai Ze, while Chen Changsheng entered the advanced Imperial Tutor training class, where the new students began meeting their classmates.

• Chen Changsheng explained that Xiao Hei could restore his original divine abilities by reclaiming the Bai Ze bloodline extracted from him in the past.
• Chen Changsheng argued that the Bai Ze Clan risked falling behind because its abilities offered less commercial potential than those of other Divine Beast lineages, and Xiao Hei made him promise not to ruin the clan.
• The Bai Ze Clan examined Xiao Hei, identified him as a distant descendant with thin bloodline, and exceptionally promoted him to high-ranking Bai Ze because he was an Immortal King Seventh Grade.
• Chen Changsheng entered the advanced Imperial Tutor training class through Xiao Hei’s new status, and the two introduced themselves to their classmates.
• Chen Changsheng chatted with Bai Yun, Hei Tu, and Bai Lu, who said they had chosen their names from Ancient Texts about Ancestor Bai Ze.

Chen Changsheng and Xiao Hei joined the Imperial Tutor Training Class, where Xiao Hei clashed with young Bai Ze over their imitation of human techniques and Ancestor Bai Ze. After the three-month course, they graduated near the bottom, and Xiao Hei remained furious about the class’s teachings and its students’ bizarre fighting tricks.

• Chen Changsheng met Chai Shao, Li Changsheng, Wan Cuiping, Tao Yun, and He Liangcai, who said they were Ten Thousand Races Academy students attending the class during break.
• Xiao Hei criticized two juvenile Bai Ze for walking on two legs and imitating human techniques, then argued with them over Ancestor Bai Ze.
• Chen Changsheng calmed Xiao Hei, who resolved to become a composed role model and restore the Bai Ze Clan’s pride.
• During the three-month course, Xiao Hei repeatedly condemned the lessons and the Bai Ze Clan’s history, becoming unpopular with the class and his clan.
• Chen Changsheng and Xiao Hei graduated near the bottom, and Xiao Hei complained about the training and Li Changsheng’s deceptive use of the names “Wang Cai” and “Sword Come.”

Chen Changsheng and Xiao Hei graduated from the Advanced Imperial Tutor Training Class and considered how to use their new status to advance their plans. Chen Changsheng chose to pursue Qilin Communicator business, hoping it would help Xiao Hei reclaim its bloodline power and restart the Virtual World plan.

• Chen Changsheng teased Xiao Hei about falling behind the younger generation, then promised they could work together against their rivals.
• The final matches ended with Chen Changsheng and Xiao Hei taking third place; He Liangcai and Tao Yun were eliminated with their partners.
• After graduating, Xiao Hei questioned whether their certificate and counterfeit Imperial Preceptor Decree were worth the cost, and Chen Changsheng explained the certificate's tax discount.
• Chen Changsheng described the Cultivation World's tax system, which he had devised to encourage trade and reduce conflicts between factions.
• Chen Changsheng planned to seek Heavenly Court authorization to sell Qilin Communicators and find a spokesperson at the Ten Thousand Races Academy; Xiao Hei recognized how the plan could support its goals.

Chen Changsheng explained that he wanted to resolve old matters involving Shui Yue, Wei Guang, Ye Yu, Liu Yidao, Wu Du, and the Children of the Forbidden Ground before building a new faction. He set out with Xiao Hei to find helpers, starting with Shui Yue and Wei Guang, and planned to locate his disciple Lu Mingyu through the Qilin Communicator.

• Chen Changsheng told Xiao Hei that Shui Yue and Wei Guang had disappeared, and suspected that Lu Mingyu had hidden them because they had become a couple.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Shui Yue was not a substitute for A Man and that he wanted to help her and Wei Guang avoid sacrificing their lives for his sake.
• Chen Changsheng said he wanted to give the Children of the Forbidden Ground a chance to form an independent core group and feared Ye Yu would eventually clash with Ye Yongxian over his body.
• Chen Changsheng told Xiao Hei that he would seek powerful helpers and visit Shui Yue and Wei Guang.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that Lu Mingyu had arrived in the Chang Sheng Epoch two hundred years earlier, and said the Qilin Communicator could help them find him.

Lu Mingyu received coordinates on his Qilin Communicator and built a Teleportation Array, bringing Chen Changsheng back after his feigned death. Chen Changsheng explained why he had brought Shui Yue out of the Endless Sea and pressed her and Wei Guang about their relationship, leaving them awaiting his judgment.

• Lu Mingyu received the coordinates, sent his own, and built a Teleportation Array while Shui Yue and Wei Guang wondered who was coming.
• Chen Changsheng and a large black dog emerged from the array, and Lu Mingyu recognized his teacher despite their changed appearances.
• Chen Changsheng acknowledged that his feigned death had hurt his students and explained that he had hidden the truth to protect his plan.
• Shui Yue and Wei Guang knelt and each tried to take responsibility for their relationship, but Chen Changsheng ordered them to stand.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that he had brought Shui Yue out of the Endless Sea because she resembled a woman he had loved, then asked whether she belonged to him.
• Wei Guang said Shui Yue belonged to no one, and Shui Yue said she felt only reverence for Chen Changsheng and begged him to spare Wei Guang; Chen Changsheng shook his head coldly.

Chen Changsheng forgave Shui Yue and Wei Guang, then tasked Lu Mingyu with testing Wei Guang and helping prepare for Chen Changsheng’s larger plan. It left Lu Mingyu ready to keep powerful figures outside the Chang Sheng Epoch while Wei Guang endured his beating with a smile.

• Shui Yue and Wei Guang feared Chen Changsheng would punish them, but he explained that Shui Yue was free to love whom she chose and that he had never planned to hold her accountable.
• Chen Changsheng said he would approve Shui Yue and Wei Guang’s marriage if Wei Guang went through a round with Lu Mingyu, and Wei Guang accepted.
• Lu Mingyu complained that he would be hated for beating the couple, but Chen Changsheng gave him permission to test Wei Guang.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that he had returned over a thousand years earlier and asked Lu Mingyu to make Jiang Shan’s contact with the Chang Sheng Epoch seem natural.
• Chen Changsheng explained that his reappearance would draw attention and asked Lu Mingyu to keep major figures outside the Chang Sheng Epoch while he completed his arrangements.
• Lu Mingyu promised to return safely, while outside he beat Wei Guang until he was half dead, and Wei Guang smiled more brightly as his injuries worsened.

Lu Mingyu defeated Wei Guang and reprimanded him for considering an attack on Chen Changsheng, then helped him up and reconciled with him. Chen Changsheng prepared to travel with Wei Guang and Shui Yue, while explaining to Xiao Hei that he wanted Lu Mingyu to pursue his own future rather than guard him forever.

• Lu Mingyu confronted the wounded Wei Guang about his past hesitation and his thoughts of striking Chen Changsheng, insisting that guarding against the teacher was wrong.
• Wei Guang accepted Lu Mingyu's hand, and Lu Mingyu pulled him from the ground as Chen Changsheng and Lu Mingyu's avatar joined them.
• Chen Changsheng told Lu Mingyu to suppress news of Shui Yue and Wei Guang in the Pill Epoch, then promised him early access to his upcoming new creation.
• Lu Mingyu took his leave, and Chen Changsheng told Wei Guang and Shui Yue to pack for a journey to several places.
• Chen Changsheng told Xiao Hei that he did not want Lu Mingyu to become his vassal or guard, because Lu Mingyu deserved to explore the wider world.