Chapter Summaries

Chen Xuan told Huo Wu and Feng Xiaotian that Zhou and Yang were in remote Canghai City, while Dugu Yan was guarding her grandfather in seclusion. At Canghai City's gates, Qin Ming recalled leaving Heaven Dou Royal Academy and meeting his former classmate Feng Yuan, whose account of their classmates and Shrek's harsh training left him reflecting on the past.

• Chen Xuan explained that Dugu Yan was in seclusion and told Huo Wu and Feng Xiaotian that Zhou and Yang were in Canghai City, warning them to bring warm clothes for the cold coast.
• Huo Wu and Feng Xiaotian decided to return and tell Shui Bing'er about Canghai City.
• Qin Ming arrived at Canghai City after nearly two years of wandering since leaving Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
• Qin Ming recalled leaving half his severance payment for Flender and traveling alone rather than returning to Shrek.
• Qin Ming encountered his former classmate Feng Yuan, who described how their classmates had fared and recalled the inadequate meals at Shrek.

Qin Ming arrived in Canghai City after losing faith in Shrek Academy and becoming disillusioned with the injustice he witnessed on his travels. Learning about the city's rules and seeing its peaceful streets, he began to consider settling there, though he chose a modest inn for his first night.

• Qin Ming remembered his injured former classmates, who had been expelled from Shrek Academy without compensation, and felt a chill toward his alma mater.
• Qin Ming helped a tenant girl who had been whipped by an estate steward, then continued his journey while accepting that he could not change the larger injustice.
• Qin Ming reached Canghai City and told himself he was tired and might settle there.
• Zhao Laoliu offered Qin Ming tea and explained that Canghai City did not ask about newcomers' backgrounds and protected commoners from Soul Masters.
• Qin Ming paid for the tea, heard Zhao Laoliu recommend Listening to the Waves Inn, and walked through the city's unhurried streets.
• Qin Ming decided against Zhao Laoliu's recommendation and rented the cheapest room at an inconspicuous inn.

Qin Ming learned that Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun were challenging Canghai Tower and watched as they reached its seventy-third floor. There, the two faced doubled gravity and a black-mist enemy, which Zhou Qiubai discovered could be defeated by piercing its hidden fragments.

• Qin Ming confirmed that the tower challengers were Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun, reflecting on their role in his departure from Shrek Academy.
• Qin Ming saw the halo on Canghai Tower’s seventy-first floor flicker and went to Upper Cliff to watch the climb.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun entered the seventy-third floor and struggled against doubled gravity as six chains formed from black mist attacked them.
• Yang Guyun used the Returnless Spear to scatter the chains, while Zhou Qiubai sensed the fragments sustaining the black mist.
• Zhou Qiubai pierced one hidden fragment with his sword, causing the black mist to collapse and preventing it from reforming.

Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun fought their way through increasingly extreme gravity changes and reached the eightieth floor in a single day, astonishing the spectators. As the eighty-first-floor halo began to flicker, Qin Ming reflected that he was content with his steady life.

• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun cleared a weightless floor by using the walls for support and defeating a flock of glowing birds.
• They overcame eightfold gravity and destroyed two giant stone statue guards by striking their vulnerable joints and eye sockets.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun took turns attacking as gravity shifted, then adapted to reversed and randomly tilted gravity on the seventy-eighth and seventy-ninth floors.
• The eighty-floor halo lit up, leaving Lu Qinghou, Qin Ming, and the teahouse spectators stunned by their record-breaking climb.
• Qin Ming accepted that he no longer wanted to compete with others and thought his current life was pretty good.
• The halo on the eighty-first floor began to flicker as the spectators watched in silence.

Zhou Qiubai entered Canghai Tower’s ninety-first floor and discovered that its trials tested the heart rather than combat ability. On the ninety-fourth floor, two versions of himself began arguing over whether killing could serve justice, and the trial remained unresolved.

• Lu Qinghou and Dantai Canglan compared Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun’s first attempts with the older generation’s records.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun arrived on the ninety-first floor, where Yang Guyun suddenly disappeared.
• A mysterious man asked Zhou Qiubai whether the people he had killed deserved to die, but Zhou Qiubai recognized the question as an attempt to make him doubt himself.
• Zhou Qiubai concluded that the ninety-first floor tested a challenger’s heart and passed through the same kind of trial on the ninety-second and ninety-third floors.
• On the ninety-fourth floor, two versions of Zhou Qiubai debated whether killing could stop evil or whether peace built on slaughter would lead to more violence.

Zhou Qiubai cleared Canghai Tower’s ninety-fourth floor by rejecting the choice between slaughter and kindness and forging his own path. As he advanced to the ninety-fifth floor, Dantai Canglan revealed that Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen had once reached the ninety-ninth floor but turned back before the final floor.

• Zhou Qiubai sheathed his sword and refused to choose between the images of slaughter and guardianship, declaring that he would walk his own path.
• Zhou Qiubai’s sword split the stone hall, and the two images disappeared as he cleared Canghai Tower’s ninety-fourth floor.
• Lu Qinghou admitted to Dantai Canglan that he had been wrong, and Dantai Canglan told him that there were more paths than the two he had considered.
• Zhou Qiubai’s progress lit the tower’s ninety-fifth-floor halo, prompting onlookers to recall the Spirit Hall elder who had once reached that floor.
• Lu Qinghou asked how far Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen had gone, and Dantai Canglan said both had reached the ninety-ninth floor before leaving because the final floor was not for them.

Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun pushed through the tower’s trials despite growing exhaustion, while the people outside celebrated their arrival at the ninety-ninth level. Zhou Qiubai found another path ahead and continued upward, and Yang Guyun finished off the final phantom in his own void.

• Dantai Canglan sent the crowd away until morning as the ninety-sixth-floor halo slowly lit up.
• Zhou Qiubai endured countless trials, including endless battles and a seemingly unending walk across a stone path, before reaching a new world of blue stone steps.
• Lu Qinghou, Mu Qianshan, and the others cheered as the two challengers reached the ninety-ninth level.
• A mysterious voice called Zhou Qiubai interesting as he continued up the steps, too exhausted to hear it.
• Yang Guyun pulled the Returnless Spear from the final phantom and resolved not to fall.

Yang Guyun and his companion reached the ninety-ninth floor of Canghai Tower, where Dantai Canglan and Lu Qinghou watched and debated whether they should continue. Dantai Canglan hoped they would both survive the trial and prove to be the person he had waited for.

• Yang Guyun stood after bracing himself on his spear and headed toward the next teleportation ring below.
• Dantai Canglan told Lu Qinghou that the two young challengers might finally let him take a break from his duties.
• Lu Qinghou admitted he would miss their training days together, though he insisted he did not regret training them harshly.
• Dantai Canglan said Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu had both failed on the ninety-ninth floor and warned that its psychological trials were dangerous.
• Dantai Canglan said he hoped the challengers would give up to stay safe, but also hoped they would continue because he had waited too long for someone.
• Lu Qinghou promised that he and the other brothers would support Dantai Canglan and either guard the tower or take the challengers out for a drink.

Zhou Qiubai endured the endless climb to Canghai Tower’s ninety-ninth floor and faced a shadow version of himself as the final guardian. He defeated the shadow, tearing through the darkness, while his fate beyond the tower remained unknown.

• Dantai Canglan chose to remain on Upper Cliff and accept the consequences of his decision, while Lu Qinghou went to have tea saved for him.
• Zhou Qiubai climbed the seemingly endless stairs, resisting exhaustion and loneliness until he reached a door at their end.
• Darkness swallowed Zhou Qiubai and showed him the dead, a vision of continent-wide war, and the trials from the tower’s previous floors.
• A shadow resembling Zhou Qiubai appeared as Canghai Tower’s final guardian, holding a black sword and matching his opening stance.
• Zhou Qiubai unleashed all six Soul Rings and struck the shadow with White Clothes Sword, splitting the darkness and defeating his double.

Zhou Qiubai reached the hundredth floor of Canghai Tower, prompting Canghai City to celebrate and Dantai Canglan to break through to rank ninety-five. Inside the tower, Zhou entered an ancient reception hall and found an indistinct figure waiting at a tea table.

• Zhou Qiubai stood on the hundredth floor and understood why he had to trust Yang Guyun without looking back.
• The hundredth-floor light spread down to Lower Cliff, and Canghai City's residents cheered and prepared a feast for Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun.
• Lu Qinghou reminded the crowd that reaching the hundredth floor was not the same as clearing it, while Dantai Canglan's Soul Power rose from rank ninety-two to rank ninety-five.
• Qin Ming watched the tower and felt anticipation for Canghai City and its people return to him.
• Zhou Qiubai entered a reception hall with a tea table and saw an indistinct figure seated across from him.

Zhou Qiubai spoke with the Tower’s observer about his resolve, his brother Yang Guyun, and the meaning of brotherhood. The observer acknowledged his loneliness and said he had forgotten why he had chosen to wait, leaving their conversation at a quiet turning point.

• The observer explained that Zhou Qiubai’s refusal to retreat or regret had drawn his attention among the Tower’s challengers.
• The observer told Zhou Qiubai that Yang Guyun had reached the ninety-eighth floor but could not advance farther because his single-mindedness limited him.
• Zhou Qiubai challenged the observer’s understanding of brotherhood and described how he and Yang Guyun trusted and supported each other through hardship.
• Zhou Qiubai accused the observer of being lonely, and the observer laughed and admitted he had forgotten why he had chosen to wait.

Zhou Qiubai refused a god’s offer of godhood, condemning the God Realm’s control over mortals and insisting that freedom mattered more than power. The man accepted his refusal and revealed how the Dragon God War led the God Realm to ban all beasts from ascending.

• A blurred man offered Zhou Qiubai godhood, but Zhou Qiubai refused and challenged the God Realm’s authority over mortals.
• Zhou Qiubai called the gods jailers for monopolizing rank-one-hundred godhood and forcing mortals to depend on their permission.
• The man asked what Zhou Qiubai wanted, and Zhou Qiubai said he would rather die than accept power that bound his freedom.
• The man praised Zhou Qiubai’s answer and described witnessing the Dragon God War, including the Dragon God’s defeat and the Silver Dragon King’s escape.
• The man said the God Realm later banned all beasts from entering and abolished beast deity positions, prompting him to leave the God Realm and never return.

Zhou Qiubai received the nameless god’s record of his life and thoughts on becoming a god before the god vanished. After the God Fall, Yang Guyun reached Zhou Qiubai on the Tower’s hundredth floor and apologized for stopping at the ninety-eighth, but Zhou Qiubai told him that surviving mattered more.

• The nameless god gave Zhou Qiubai a ball of light containing his experiences and reflections on becoming a god, then asked him to remember the man who built the Tower rather than kneel.
• The god faded away, and a gray sky and meteor shower spread across the world as people and powerful figures sensed the God Fall.
• Dantai Canglan, Lu Qinghou, the Twelve Guards of Canghai, Bibi Dong, Bo Saixi, and Di Tian witnessed or sensed the strange celestial event.
• Yang Guyun arrived beside Zhou Qiubai on the Tower’s hundredth floor and said he had failed to pass the ninety-eighth floor or reach the top with him.
• Zhou Qiubai reassured Yang Guyun that he cared more about his survival than how far he had climbed, and that they could keep walking together.

Zhou Qiubai became Canghai City's new city lord after reaching the hundredth floor of Canghai Tower, and Dantai Canglan announced a feast to celebrate. Zhou Qiubai appointed Dantai Canglan City Affairs Officer to hand him the city's responsibilities, but the old man fled toward Lower Cliff.

• Yang Guyun clarified that he had reached only the ninety-eighth floor and identified Zhou Qiubai as the one who reached the top.
• Dantai Canglan declared Zhou Qiubai the new city lord under Canghai City's rules and pushed him into the city lord's chair.
• Dantai Canglan announced that Canghai City would hold a feast, and the crowd cheered for its new master.
• Zhou Qiubai ordered Dantai Canglan to serve as City Affairs Officer and handle all city matters without needing to consult him.
• Dantai Canglan ran toward Lower Cliff rather than accept his new duties.

Zhou Qiubai celebrated Canghai City’s future as its new city lord while Qin Ming reflected on his past and decided to live in the city. The night ended with Zhou pouring wine into the sea beneath the cliffs as a meteor vanished overhead.

• Zhou Qiubai admitted he had deliberately made the old Title Douluo handle the city’s responsibilities, then joined the residents’ banquet.
• Huzi and the others repeatedly toasted Zhou, while Yang Guyun urged him to eat and Mu Qianshan praised his wife’s wine.
• Qin Ming recalled his career and his arrival in Canghai City, realizing that obedience—not a lack of talent or strength—had kept him from following his principles.
• Qin Ming left the banquet and decided to live in Canghai City in seclusion until he could sort out his feelings and meet Zhou Qiubai again.
• Zhou Qiubai noticed Qin Ming’s empty seat but said nothing, then poured his last bowl of wine toward the sea beside Yang Guyun.

Zhou Qiubai accepted his new role as city lord of Canghai City after clearing its tower, and news of the city’s return spread across Douluo Continent. The chapter left the continent’s major powers beginning to reckon with Canghai City’s renewed strength.

• Zhou Qiubai accepted Dantai Canglan’s declaration that he was now the city lord.
• News that Zhou Qiubai and his companion had cleared Canghai Tower spread across Douluo Continent.
• Qian Daoliu recalled Canghai City’s former glory and sent a report about the tower’s completion to Tiandou City.
• Dugu Bo read the report and told Dugu Yan that Zhou Qiubai and his companion had become Canghai City’s new masters.
• Dugu Bo warned Dugu Yan that Canghai City’s hidden strength and the soul masters drawn to it could trouble the great sects.

Dugu Bo explained to Dugu Yan how Canghai City had become a powerful force capable of rivaling the Upper Three Sects, thanks to its growing Soul Master population and formidable leaders. At Xie Ru’s residence, Chen Xuan argued that Zhou Qiubai’s rise to city lord had been a deliberate choice to escape the continent’s turmoil, not a lucky accident.

• Dugu Bo told Dugu Yan that Canghai City’s thousand Soul Elders, strong leadership, and loyal residents could reshape the continent’s power structure.
• Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo agreed to keep Chen Xuan’s role in recommending Canghai City a secret, then a steward summoned Dugu Bo to see Xie Ru.
• Dugu Bo arrived at Xie Ru’s residence and learned that Zhou Qiubai had cleared all hundred floors of Canghai Tower while Yang Guyun had stopped at the ninety-eighth and become second city lord.
• Chen Xuan said Zhou Qiubai’s success was not luck and explained that he had chosen Canghai City to stay far from political turmoil in a defensible place protected by a Title Douluo.

Xie Ru, Dugu Bo, and Dugu Yan discussed the political consequences of Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun becoming Canghai City's leaders, including the need for Heaven Dou's formal authorization. In Tiandou City, Qian Renxue read a report about the new city lords and asked She Long what he knew about Canghai City.

• Dugu Bo and Xie Ru agreed that Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun's rise could change the continent's power balance.
• Xie Ru warned that Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect would take notice of Canghai City, and said he would seek Heaven Dou Empire's handwritten authorization for its city lords.
• Dugu Yan learned that Canghai City held at least three thousand secluded Soul Masters, and Dugu Bo anticipated that more Rogue Cultivators would join them.
• Qian Renxue read a report stating that Zhou Qiubai had cleared Canghai Tower's hundredth floor, Yang Guyun had reached the ninety-eighth, and Dantai Canglan had become City Affairs Officer.
• Qian Renxue summoned She Long and asked what he knew about Canghai City.

Qian Renxue learned that Zhou Qiubai had conquered Canghai Tower and assessed the strength and independence of Canghai City. She decided to let Xue Xing and another woman attempt to win Zhou Qiubai over while she watched from the sidelines.

• She Long told Qian Renxue about Canghai City's origins, its rules, and the eight hundred or more soul masters living there.
• Pufferfish Douluo showed Qian Renxue intelligence describing Canghai City's defensible terrain, self-sufficiency, and extensive trade.
• Pufferfish reported that Dantai Canglan had served as acting City Lord for sixty years and that his Soul Power might have broken through after Zhou Qiubai cleared Canghai Tower.
• Qian Renxue concluded that Canghai City had nearly a thousand soul masters, a powerful Title Douluo, and a new City Lord who owed her a favor.
• Qian Renxue said Zhou Qiubai would not serve beneath anyone and decided to let Xue Xing and another woman try to win him over.

After Canghai City’s rise drew attention across the continent, rulers and sect leaders weighed its power and considered how to respond. The chapter ended with Ning Fengzhi recognizing that the continent’s balance was changing as Chen Xin’s sword energy surged during his seclusion.

• The young lady ordered She Long to watch Canghai City’s visitors and supply flow without approaching or interfering.
• Tang San trained near Star Dou Forest, brooded over his defeats to Zhou Qiubai, and planned to meet Tai Tan in Gengxin City for help forging hidden weapons.
• Tang Xiao received a secret letter about Canghai City but told an elder that nothing was wrong.
• Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong reviewed a report that two Soul Emperors had cleared all one hundred floors of Canghai Tower and discussed Canghai City’s growing strength.
• Ning Fengzhi noted that Chen Xin’s seclusion had stirred powerful sword energy above the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s Back Mountain.