Chapter Summaries

Xu Xing visited Ning Ruo in the snow mulberry tree’s inner world and saw the technological and cultivation research she had developed. Ning Ruo demonstrated armor powered by a user’s beliefs, which she hoped to improve to Spirit Transformation-level strength.

• Ning Wanyin welcomed Xu Xing and guided him to a teleportation array that brought him to Ning Ruo.
• Ning Ruo greeted Xu Xing in a modern office, explaining that she had dressed up for their reunion and was still preparing the method she had mentioned.
• Ning Ruo led Xu Xing to her laboratory, where she showed him machines enhanced with awakened spirit sense.
• Ning Ruo gave Xu Xing a metal plate and instructed him to tap it three times and shout, causing it to transform into silver armor.
• Ning Ruo explained that the armor drew power from the wearer’s courage and beliefs, and that she intended to refine it to reach Spirit Transformation-level combat power.

Xu Xing visited Ning Ruo and saw the inventions she had developed, then learned that Yuan was only a departing wisp of divine soul. Yuan reflected on his time in the Great Profound Realm and planned to leave after speaking with Sword Ancestor.

• Ning Ruo showed Xu Xing a transforming silver armor bracer and gave him several of her inventions, including Qi Refining spirit-source chips.
• Xu Xing explained that he had chosen a layered approach for the Righteous Alliance because Gu might have left a contingency.
• Ning Ruo said she had not interfered with Yuan or the younger generation at the Spirit Sound Workshop, and Xu Xing agreed that Yuan's true self had already left.
• Ning Wanzhu took Chi Jiuyu and Ming Yu to the market while Yuan followed at a distance and reflected on his memories and fellow countryman.
• Yuan told Ning Wanzhu that he would leave after Sword Ancestor and Spirit Ancestor finished their discussion and he had spoken with Sword Ancestor.

Yuan encountered Senior Confusion, the person he most feared seeing in the Great Profound Realm, while shopping at the Spirit Sound Workshop. Senior Confusion introduced his new disciple Xiao Fan and forcibly arranged a reunion, while Xu Xing and Ning Ruo watched from the inner sect.

• Yuan told Ming Yu that the Righteous Alliance's crisis had been resolved and recalled explaining his remnant-soul nature and Meng Xuan's failed ascension to the Speaker.
• Senior Confusion appeared before Yuan with Xiao Fan, explaining that he had returned from the Starry Sky to find him and introduce his disciple.
• Yuan noted Xiao Fan's nearly complete Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation, heavy killing intent, and unusual Dao Foundation.
• Senior Confusion clapped his hands and transported Yuan, Ning Wanzhu, Ming Yu, Chi Jiuyu, and Xiao Fan to a round table to catch up.
• Chi Jiuyu greeted Senior Confusion and asked which character his name's 'huo' used, leaving him speechless.
• Xu Xing and Ning Ruo watched the gathering from the Spirit Sound Workshop's inner sect, and Xu Xing recognized Xiao Fan as the Cang Race-blooded person mentioned in their group.

Xu Xing and Ning Ruo left the laboratory and went for a walk through the Spirit Sound Workshop, where Ning Ruo took down the characters proclaiming their relationship after Xu Xing asked. Meanwhile, Chi Jiuyu got Senior Confusion to connect to the internet and messaged Bie Xuening about customizing a gift, only to be met with her Master's suspicion.

• Xu Xing and Ning Ruo left the laboratory, and Ning Ruo said her plan involving the Sword Venerable's nine strands of Sword Qi would be ready to explain the next day.
• Ning Ruo changed into winter clothes and took Xu Xing for a walk, briefly informing Ning Wanyin that they were going out together.
• Xu Xing asked Ning Ruo to remove the conspicuous characters in the sky, and she agreed after he called her by name; the characters dissolved into streaks of light.
• Chi Jiuyu asked Senior Confusion to restore internet access, then sent Bie Xuening a picture of a Snow Mulberry Tree leaf and offered to customize her a Little Yellow Duck.
• Bie Xuening asked what trouble Chi Jiuyu had gotten into, leaving Chi Jiuyu hurt that her Master suspected her intentions.

Chi Jiuyu defended herself to Bie Xuening before Confusion sent her out of the Spirit Sound Workshop’s inner grounds. Xu Xing and Ning Ruo discussed the method for exploring realms beyond the Great Profound Realm, leaving its connection to Ning Ruo’s plans unresolved.

• Chi Jiuyu convinced Bie Xuening she had not bought a gift to make up for wrongdoing, then told her she was shopping with Confusion while her Martial Uncle met Spirit Ancestor.
• Confusion spoke with Yuan and recalled their past, while Yuan resented Confusion for prying into his secrets and overhearing his words.
• Ning Wanzhu asked why Confusion was at the Spirit Sound Workshop, and Confusion sent Chi Jiuyu out after she played videos on her phone.
• Xu Xing and Ning Ruo discussed Chi Jiuyu’s potential and the scarcity of outstanding disciples at the Spirit Sound Workshop.
• Xu Xing asked whether Ning Ruo’s proposed method involved realms beyond the Great Profound Realm, and she confirmed that it did.

Xu Xing and Ning Ruo shared a peaceful snowy walk and tea, recalling the Human Race’s brutal struggles in ancient winters. Later, Chi Jiuyu finished a giant snowman and met Ning Ruo, who introduced herself as the Spirit Ancestor, just as a Main Quest appeared in Chi Jiuyu’s mind.

• Xu Xing and Ning Ruo watched inner disciples play with magical snowballs before stopping at a teahouse.
• Ning Ruo and Xu Xing recalled how the Human Race had endured starvation, freezing, and attacks from Demon Races during ancient snowy migrations.
• Chi Jiuyu used her Life-Bound Sword to complete an enormous snowman in her courtyard.
• Ning Ruo arrived carrying a tank with two Spirit Fish and introduced herself to Chi Jiuyu as the Spirit Ancestor.
• Chi Jiuyu became wary when a voice announced that a Main Quest had been triggered.

Chi Jiuyu visited Xu Xing and Ning Ruo, grew curious about Ning Ruo’s closeness with her Martial Uncle, and watched her prepare two unusual Spirit Fish. After Ning Ruo mentioned wanting to call Chi Jiuyu’s Master “Sister Bie,” Chi Jiuyu messaged her Master to report that she was with the Spirit Ancestor.

• Ning Ruo brought Chi Jiuyu two unnamed Spirit Fish and offered to show her how to prepare them.
• Chi Jiuyu questioned why Ning Ruo called Xu Xing “Brother Xu” and suspected Ning Ruo had designs on him.
• Ning Ruo gave Chi Jiuyu a basket of glowing fruits and went to cook the fish while Chi Jiuyu joined her to watch.
• Ning Ruo prepared the Spirit Fish with unusual skill and said she had once cooked for immortals using a starfield and its stars.
• Ning Ruo told Chi Jiuyu that she had wanted to call her Master “Sister Bie,” and Chi Jiuyu hurried off to message her Master that she was with the Spirit Ancestor.

Confusion tried to force Yuan to reveal the next line of a secret phrase and investigate his origins, but Xu Xing intervened with Moon Shadow and cut away those thoughts. Xu Xing, Ning Ruo, and Chi Jiuyu regrouped afterward, with Xu Xing explaining why he had acted.

• Chi Jiuyu stopped waiting for her master’s reply, ate a fruit, and went to the kitchen while Xu Xing watched.
• Confusion questioned Yuan about his origins and demanded the next line of the phrase “In the desolate land of Ba Mountain and Chu River.”
• Confusion forced Yuan’s mouth to begin answering, but Red Radiance swept the group away and supplied the line, “Twenty-three years cast aside.”
• Xu Xing used Moon Shadow to cut away Confusion’s thoughts about investigating the origins of the Sword Ancestor and Yuan.
• Ning Ruo joined Xu Xing, and he explained that Confusion’s condition made the intervention possible and that he would not have acted so against another fellow Daoist.

Chi Jiuyu shared a meal with Xu Xing and Ning Ruo, then started a group chat with Bie Xuening and Zhang Yunlu. As dawn approached, Xu Xing and Ning Ruo sensed that something brewing within the divine tree had finally been completed.

• Chi Jiuyu's Life-Bound Sword wanted to keep training, but put itself away after Xu Xing put away Moon Shadow.
• Ning Ruo explained that the Spirit Fish had been raised on Mystic Candle Fruit flesh and offered Chi Jiuyu some to take home.
• After eating, Chi Jiuyu cleaned up, went outside into the snow, and created a group chat with Bie Xuening and Zhang Yunlu.
• Chi Jiuyu shared a photo of the snowfall and told the group that Ning Ruo had welcomed Xu Xing with huge words in the sky.
• Near dawn, Xu Xing and Ning Ruo looked toward the divine tree and sensed that something within it had finished brewing.

Xu Xing and Ning Ruo watched the sunrise before she left him to prepare for a journey, while Chi Jiuyu received a crystal card and storage ring from him and wondered if they were hush money. Xu Xing later joined Ning Ruo in a hidden passage, where she raised the possibility of exploring worlds beyond the Great Profound Realm.

• Ning Ruo and Xu Xing watched the sunrise in her Cave Heaven, then she left to meet him later.
• Chi Jiuyu asked Xu Xing whether he liked her master or Ning Ruo, and he smacked her on the back of the head.
• Xu Xing gave Chi Jiuyu a purple crystal card from Ning Ruo and a storage ring, leaving her to wonder if they were hush money.
• In the main Cave Heaven, Ning Wanyin relaxed when Ning Ruo told her she no longer needed to wait and went back to gaming.
• Xu Xing met Ning Ruo in the Mountain Body Laboratory, and she opened a concealed passageway through powerful defenses.
• Ning Ruo asked Xu Xing what might exist beyond Dao Integration and suggested considering other worlds.

Xu Xing and Ning Ruo revealed a plan to use Ascension Platforms and an Immortal Cleansing Pool to bring worthy Human Race prodigies from other worlds into the Great Profound Realm and help it recognize them. Xu Xing agreed to test the plan, while Chi Jiuyu, Yuan, Ning Wanzhu, and Ming Yu appeared at the Spirit Sound Workshop’s snowy attractions.

• Ning Ruo led Xu Xing through a passage to the Ascension Platform hub and explained that the Great Profound Realm itself was the Immortal Realm for its True Immortals.
• Ning Ruo showed Xu Xing the Ascension Platform network and explained that he could explore other worlds and place platforms to guide prodigies here.
• Ning Ruo manifested the Immortal Cleansing Pool, explaining that she had used the Sword Venerable’s Sword Qi to refine suppressed Heavenly Will into an aura that could help outsiders gain the Great Profound Realm’s recognition.
• Xu Xing judged the plan feasible but said it still needed testing, and Ning Ruo explained that only cultivators with great deeds in their worlds would be allowed to ascend.
• Chi Jiuyu tried the Spirit Sound Workshop’s snowy attractions while Yuan stayed inside, refusing to believe Confusion would dare come in.

Yuan, Ning Wanzhu, Chi Jiuyu, and Ming Yu spent time together at the Spirit Sound Workshop, where Chi Jiuyu learned that the Mystic Candle Fruit Spirit Fish came from the Immortal Ancestor. In the Mystic Candle Tree’s Cave Heaven, Ning Ruo revealed the Ascension Plan to the Home-Guarding Sword Venerable, who questioned her about its previous failure.

• Yuan wondered about the Cave Heaven inside the Mystic Candle Tree, and Ning Wanzhu said she had visited it twice but knew little about it.
• Chi Jiuyu asked Ning Wanzhu where to buy Spirit Fish raised on Mystic Candle Fruits, and Ning Wanzhu explained that the Immortal Ancestor had raised the fish Chi Jiuyu tasted.
• Ming Yu invited Yuan and Ning Wanzhu to ride the ice Ferris wheel, while Chi Jiuyu excused herself and ran off.
• Xu Xing and Ning Ruo returned to the laboratory after adjusting the Ascension Platform’s restrictions on cultivators who ascended.
• Ning Ruo received a message from the Home-Guarding Sword Venerable asking about the plan and her junior brother, then decided to explain the Ascension Plan and the role of gathering talented young cultivators.
• The Home-Guarding Sword Venerable replied that she remembered the plan had been attempted before and failed.

Ning Ruo explained her Ascension Plan to Bie Xuening, who agreed it might work, while Xu Xing and Ning Ruo prepared to leave Yuan undisturbed. Yuan later visited Xu Xing’s residence to say goodbye, and Xu Xing took him aside to talk as Ning Wanzhu and Ming Yu faced their coming separation.

• Ning Ruo told Bie Xuening that the Ascension Platform and Immortal Cleansing Pool might help human prodigies gain the Great Profound Realm’s recognition, and Bie Xuening judged the plan feasible.
• Ning Ruo and Xu Xing exchanged contact information, then decided not to interrupt Yuan, Ning Wanzhu, and Ming Yu at the snowy Ferris wheel.
• Yuan visited Xu Xing’s residence with Ning Wanzhu and Ming Yu to say his final goodbye, and nervously thought of Xu Xing as his future father-in-law.
• Xu Xing stopped Yuan from addressing him formally and took him somewhere else to talk, leaving Ning Wanzhu and Ming Yu saddened by the impending farewell.
• Ning Ruo comforted Ning Wanzhu and Ming Yu by saying they might meet Yuan again after the Cang Race was dealt with and the Ascension Plan succeeded.

Xu Xing said farewell to Yuan, who vanished after thanking him for their long friendship and leaving behind a piece of cyan jade. Back in the courtyard, Xu Xing reflected on whether he still missed his homeland, then turned from his melancholy to join Ning Ruo in the kitchen.

• In a vast white space, Yuan thanked Xu Xing for helping him reunite with Wanzhu and Ming Yu and for protecting him in the Great Profound Realm.
• Yuan said farewell and faded away, leaving a piece of cyan jade behind for Xu Xing.
• Xu Xing returned to the courtyard and gave Yuan's jade to Ning Wanzhu, who passed it to Ming Yu before both women left.
• Chi Jiuyu arrived and learned that Yuan had left, then went outside to show off her snowman.
• Xu Xing wondered whether he still missed his homeland, then decided he was not a stranger in the courtyard and went to help Ning Ruo prepare fish.

Ming Yu left the Spirit Sound Workshop, and Xu Xing told Ning Wanzhu he planned to retrieve the things Yuan had left in Qingxu. Confusion met Xu Xing and Ning Ruo, obtained a Spirit Insect Body-Forging Potion for Xiao Fan, and learned that Xiao Fan had not contacted his family; Xu Xing then gave Xiao Fan a piece of Red Jade.

• Ming Yu departed from the Spirit Sound Workshop, and Ning Wanzhu joined Xu Xing and Ning Ruo on the road out of the Snow Mulberry grove.
• Xu Xing told Ning Wanzhu he intended to retrieve the things Yuan had left in Qingxu, which Yuan had entrusted her with locating.
• Confusion encountered Xu Xing and Ning Ruo, asked for a Spirit Insect Body-Forging Potion for Xiao Fan, and received one from Ning Ruo.
• Confusion introduced Xiao Fan to Xu Xing, Ning Ruo, and Ning Wanzhu, and Xiao Fan said he had not contacted his family since leaving Mystic Sword City.
• Confusion told Xiao Fan that Xu Xing had arranged the Mystic Sword City trial and given him the Clarify My Origin Method; Xiao Fan said he did not regret accepting his master's gift.
• Xu Xing gave Xiao Fan a piece of Red Jade.

Xu Xing received the key to Yuan’s Homecoming laboratory and prepared to head to Qingxu, while Ning Wanzhu and Ning Ruo learned that Yuanjun had used the Ink Qilin Flowers as dye. Xu Xing then set off with Chi Jiuyu, who returned to the sect as he continued toward Qingxu.

• Ning Wanzhu gave Xu Xing the golden key to Yuan’s Homecoming laboratory, and Xu Xing promised to return it after his visit to Qingxu.
• Xu Xing told Ning Wanzhu and Ning Ruo that Ink Qilin Flowers were an excellent dyeing material, and Ning Ruo guessed they were connected to Yuanjun’s gift to him.
• Ning Wanzhu left for the inner-sect Cave Heaven after Xu Xing dismissed her.
• Chi Jiuyu finished packing her purchases and learned that Xu Xing planned to go to Qingxu without her.
• Xu Xing messaged Bie Xuening about bringing Chi Jiuyu back and reassured her that Chi Jiuyu had carefully chosen gifts for her.
• Bie Xuening admitted she had only been pretending to be displeased with Chi Jiuyu, while Xu Xing chose not to tell Chi Jiuyu.

Xu Xing brought Chi Jiuyu back to the Sword Sect after Ning Ruo gave her a Mystic Candle Tree branch. He then met Bie Xuening, showed her an Ascension Platform, and prepared to leave for Qingxu to find worlds for the first deployment.

• Ning Ruo gave Chi Jiuyu a Mystic Candle Tree branch and instructions for cultivating it.
• Xu Xing and Chi Jiuyu returned to the Sword Sect through a storm, where Chi Jiuyu saw Yueling still playing a game in the Sword Venerable Hall.
• Xu Xing met Bie Xuening and showed her a small Ascension Platform, which she judged to be well designed.
• Xu Xing said he had nine Ascension Platforms and would head to Qingxu to find suitable worlds for them.
• Bie Xuening said she would send more Sword Qi to the Spirit Sound Workshop.

Xu Xing left Bie Xuening to search other realms for a suitable place to establish an Ascension Platform, then traveled to Qingxu. He revealed that Qingxu was where the Ancestor of the Cang Race, “Tai,” fell, and continued into its dangerous depths.

• Xu Xing told Bie Xuening he would search worlds Yuan had explored for a suitable place to establish an Ascension Platform.
• After Xu Xing departed, Chi Jiuyu and Yueling startled Bie Xuening, who restrained Chi Jiuyu, photographed her glowing face, and refused to delete the pictures.
• Xu Xing reached the edge of Qingxu, murmured “Tai,” and vanished from the cliff.
• Xu Xing walked through Qingxu and watched a spatial rift kill a flood serpent reaching for fruit from a tree.
• Xu Xing explained that Qingxu was where the Ancestor of the Cang Race, “Tai,” fell during the great battle in Remote Antiquity.

Xu Xing traveled through Qingxu, where bizarre creatures and remnants of Tai’s essence made even seemingly weak beings dangerous. Elsewhere, a Spirit Transformation body cultivator triggered a spatial storm while retrieving an ore, and an unidentified figure appeared as his team faced disaster.

• Xu Xing passed strange creatures and ignored a legacy cave abode because its contents held no interest for him.
• A five-person team discovered a shoot growing around a translucent ore beside a spatial rift, and the body cultivator decided to retrieve it.
• The body cultivator shattered the rift’s barrier and grabbed the ore, but a spatial storm sliced apart his hand and distorted his vision.
• An unseen voice warned him not to be greedy, and a faint figure appeared amid the overlapping images.

After Xu Xing expelled everyone from Qingxu, he reached the hidden Homecoming laboratory and found the remains of Zhang Yunlu and Zhang Xiu’s parents. Inside, he discovered Gu’s World-Deriving Instrument, whose spirit had been extracted.

• A cultivator and his team appeared outside Qingxu with their injuries healed and a green sprout clinging to their recovered ore, then hurried away with their gains.
• Xu Xing revealed that he had sent the people inside Qingxu out, helping some gather spirit herbs before removing them from the realm.
• Xu Xing used the golden rune sphere to open the concealed entrance to the Homecoming laboratory.
• Xu Xing recognized the two skeletons by the entrance as Zhang Yunlu and Zhang Xiu’s parents and took their remains to return to the siblings.
• Xu Xing entered the underground chamber and found Gu’s eighty-one-layered World-Deriving Instrument, whose spirit was gone.